A Conversation

In my last years in the classroom, I was asked to be an instructional coach.  I jumped!  I wanted to do this!  Here's my exploration of why and of what my expectations included. Writing this piece helped me clarify why I 'jumped' at the opportunity to coach.   (But the challenge was that no relief of school responsibilities was offered and no additional money.  It proved to be difficult for me to increase my job responsibilities to add instructional coach. I thought of Virginia Wulff -- she needed "a room of one's own." )  1. Do I want to be an instructional  coach? why or why not? Women who don't feel attractive often will look at their friends and offer positive commentary in the hopes that the friends will reciprocate.   People insecure with how they parent their child will sometimes turn to a friend and complement their parenting, hoping, again, that there will be reciprocity. A discovery I made is that even when not reciprocated, I ...

I’ve also noticed something about myself.    When one lesson said, “Here’s 15 ways to xxxx”    I clicked and went on ahead with abandon, looking at everything.    When the lesson said, “Here’s 72 links to xxxx”    I could feel the curtain fall over my face.    72!    SeVEnTY-TwO! I still have not clicked there. So, this led me to wonder what my personal numeric limit is.    And, of course, what the student numeric limit is.    Cognitive load is the current buzz-phrase, but I didn’t even want to click there because of * anticipating * cognitive over-load!    I will start my courses with a    minimum of tech tools and a minimum of “clicks” so students do not have the same curtain falling over their faces. Right now, the market/internet/etc is simply flooded with many, many apps, programs and opportunities.    It’s chaotic.    Several apps or links will rise to the top in...

"I've been a teacher for over 30 years and I connected with none of your stories.  None." I was at a loss. Really?  None?  Did teachers have such vastly different experiences or feelings than I did? "Wow, how so?" I was genuinely disarmed and curious at the same time. "Only one kid threw a desk?  I have multiple kids throwing desks every day."  I bit my lip.  "And only one death?  And from natural causes?"  She threw out a "HA," kind of sarcastic laugh.  Meekly, I said, "No, I had other kids die. I just chose that one."  "From overdoses?  From drive-by shootings?  Suicide?"  I felt as though a bucket of ice was dropped on my head.  "I teach in the valley. Your experience was so foreign to me."   I let that hang in the air a minute.  "Oh, please record and write about your experience.  It's important."  "Ha," again, that sarcastic laugh.  "I'll never do that."  ...

 Was it a myth?   "We began to question whether this really happened," said Emily.  Then Natalie texted us all.  "In case you were wondering if armpit hair can survive over 30 years...." I'm not sure what's funnier: the idea of a card with hairs on it or keeping said card with hairs for over thirty years.  

 Dear Mrs. Mariner,  Hope you've been doing well!  I recently finished your short stories from Backward and Blind , and I thoroughly enjoyed reading all your teaching adventures!  Part of me wishes I heard more of these stories in middle and high school, but perhaps I wouldn't have been mature enough to appreciate them.  One of my favorites was the feminism debate story.  I felt inspired by how you were a role model not only in the classroom, but also just in the world as a well informed citizen.  I can only imagine how impactful this leadership was for your students then, where gender discrimination still pervaded the atmosphere.  I also enjoyed the stories about the swim meet and leg hairs and the poisonous plant, and I smiled seeing Pascal's triangle make yet another appearance in my life.  Understanding how you made an impact on your students' education (and beyond) made me grateful for your coaching MathCounts.  Maybe I already had ...

 I feel so flattered and warmed by friends' responses. I'm not sure what I expected, but I did not intend this additional feeling of awkwardness. A dear friend who lives in Utah asked her book club if they wanted to read this book; they did. I asked her to please let me know how the book group went. My friend wrote, "Our book group last night went great!! They loved your book and loved hearing my personal stories of how amazing you are.  They loved the short vignette chapters of your book because it made it so they could read it in smaller pieces around their schedules.  They think you are an amazing warrior who sees something that needs to be done and does it, rather than just thinking that it's always been this way so it won't change, or waiting for someone else to lead the way.  They mentioned several quotes they liked. I don't remember them all, but one was near the end of the book where you said something about allowing people to change and not be the pers...

 A dear old friend writes:  I got your book for Christmas yesterday and finished reading it this morning! I loved it! It was fun to fit the pieces of what I knew from our time together into the rest of your history. The part about being open to gardening wisdom from Barbara was especially meaningful to me because you allowed my children to cut some of those beautiful flowers from your yard to give to me at the hospital after you had cared for my older 2 children while I had my 3rd baby. The flowers were so lovely and you had already done so much for me in caring for my children, that it felt over the top for you to do something so kind and personal -- and my kids were so pleased to get to give them to me.   Thanks for all you have done for me even after we no longer lived near each other -- for the encouragement you gave me with my son's cancer and for the help you gave me getting up to speed in competition math. You made a huge impact on my life and I wasn't even a ...