I had only been a teacher for a few years when I was asked to teach an interest class during lunchtime. I agreed to teach aerobics, since I loved doing them, and why not? I was young, strong, and didn’t look half bad in an 80s leotard, complete with leg warmers and a sweat band… Continue reading Another One Bites the Dust
Category: teaching
Paying It Forward
When one of my daughters studied abroad and found her roommate stealing her food because the girl had no money to buy groceries, my daughter was upset. When she finally told me about it a few years later, I had to say to her, “That was me. I was the girl sneaking food because I… Continue reading Paying It Forward
Challenger Explosion and Subbing in San Diego
(re-run) It was a Tuesday, my third week of substitute teaching in Ramona, California (January 28th). The Middle School Spanish teacher before me had left in October after a former student told her therapist that he had sexually molested her while on his high school track team. The teacher was terminated, and the string of… Continue reading Challenger Explosion and Subbing in San Diego
The Neighbors, the Pit Bull, and the Daily Pooper
(re-run) We bought a house on a street that was a long court with two courts coming off of it. We were up at the top, and it was a great and safe place for my kids to walk our greyhound mix dog. Until it wasn’t. “That was a short walk,” I said when they… Continue reading The Neighbors, the Pit Bull, and the Daily Pooper
Scariest Student Ever
(re-run) During my ten years of teaching public school, I had many a student that caused me grief. The 8th grader transfer student who called me a bitch in front of the whole class on his first day. The brilliant 7th grade boy who lit matches in the hallway and dropped them on… Continue reading Scariest Student Ever
Me Too
(re-run) He was one of five professors in the tiny Spanish department at Iowa State. I had him for both semesters of Spanish Two, and I’d just landed a summer job, selling books door to door in a mystery state after a week’s training in Nashville. The bus for me and the other recruits was… Continue reading Me Too
Trading Up in Omaha
(re-run) Alice got a teaching job in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She decided to live across the Missouri River in Omaha in an old Victorian that had been converted into apartments. A military guy from Maryland moved in upstairs. She ran into him in the hallway after a bike ride one evening when he was coming… Continue reading Trading Up in Omaha
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
(re-run) It was a few days before the kids would come – 7th and 8th graders. I left my job as a high school Spanish teacher and would now be teaching English to middle schoolers. It was a way to get out of a podunk town in Nebraska and into a big city in Iowa… Continue reading Self-fulfilling Prophecy
My Republican Beach Town
A thrift store in Carmel had a half-off sale yesterday and today. I paid cash for my stack of books at the book store. I mentioned that cash is important, especially for people who don’t have bank accounts or credit cards. “Without cash, what would those people do?” I commented. “Those people always find a… Continue reading My Republican Beach Town
More Machu Picchu
(part two) Christy and I finished our breakfast at the hotel up at the top and looked into the fog. The buses wouldn’t start arriving until noon. “Let’s hike up the big mountain,” she said. “Okay,” I said. My lost and found tennis shoes were too small, but I had cut out the toes so… Continue reading More Machu Picchu
