What the hell just happened? School has been out for five days now, and I have yet to fully process and integrate the last nine months. This daunting task feels like straining to yank an elephant backwards through a keyhole. Under even ideal circumstances, teaching and learning are incredibly complex…

“BUT THERE’S NOTHING GOOD ABOUT BEING FAT,” Chris ululated, tears amassing behind his eyes. My 1st period was in the middle of a poetry activity when the outburst occurred. The lesson plan for the day was relatively simple. After watching a slam poet honor her mother’s refusal to downplay her…

My toddler marched into the living room and held out the half-eaten remains of a peach. “I HAVE FUN AT THE GROCERY STORE” she beamed. Seven words. “Oh, did you?” I asked, pulling her and the peach into an embrace. Never one for full-on squeezes, she pulled back and thrust…

“Alright scholars, go ahead and open up your packets,” I said. “Wait, main idea again? I thought we did this one last week,” Tori asked as she flipped through the stapled packet of test prep passages in front of her. “We did,” I explained, “but the results from last week’s…

Content Warning: brief mention of child abuse and suicidal ideation It’s 315 AM and meaningful sleep continues to evade me. I turn on the computer and chug some coffee, shielding my eyes from the piercing light of dual computer monitors coming online. …

“THE NEXT TIME THERE’S A SCHOOL SHOOTING, WE WON’T FORGET YOU ALL WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT” The man hunches over the microphone and roars at the school board. He stabs at the air with his index finger as he shouts, punctuating every third or fourth word with a violent thrust. …

What is admin planning to do about the abysmally low teacher morale? The sentence glared out at me from behind my dusty screen, daring me to send it into the chat. The grade level meeting was wrapping up so it was now or never. My finger hesitated over the dark…

The email hits my inbox at 3:03 PM. Contained within the superintendent’s weekly update are the dates students and teachers will be returning to school buildings. Nevermind that fewer than 50% of teachers have been fully vaccinated. No worries about the countless accommodation requests from teachers that remain ignored and…

I had to get out of the house immediately. There was no time to stretch or properly warm-up. Anxiety had hijacked my brain, shooting lava through my central nervous system. I laced up my running shoes, tightened the drawstring on my Cookie Monster pajama pants, and bolted for the door…