the dirigible plum

Thanks to Judy K at Joodles Now & Then and Caitlin at Love Always, Caitlin for the inspiration for this post! For the 25th day of the March Slicing Challenge, I’m making a list of 25 things that make me happy. vintage stamps washi tape extra ice in my iced coffee thrift stores sunrises my […]

Today I’m borrowing an idea from A Time to Write. Thank you for the inspiration! My ideal dog is a pit bull. The concrete block head. The silly forehead wrinkles. The smushy cheeks. The soulful eyes. Even though we aren’t looking for a dog, I still like to admire the dogs at pit bull rescue […]

I tried them too. I signed up for poetry writing and embroidery and zine-making classes over Zoom, and I wrote some poetry and embroidered a word and made 100 zines for a #100dayproject. But then I was on to the next thing–or rather, back to my usual things. Reading, writing in my notebook, walking, cat […]

Maybe one reason my new classroom felt instantly like mine was because it has a bookshelf filled with books, left by the last twelfth-grade teacher. Technically, it has two bookshelves, but one was filled with classroom sets of The New Jim Crow and the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature. Although I am glad to have […]

I always read the tweets from the Don Graves Write Now Conference with longing–wishing I could be there. This year, thanks to a virtual conference, I was able to attend, and it was exactly what I needed. I took pages of notes, and my camera roll is now full of quotes and writing prompts. I […]

Here’s the thing about book spine poetry: it’s impossible to create just one. Here’s the other thing about book spine poetry: it makes a big mess of your books. I now have half finished poems stacked all over my office! Oh, and one more thing about book spine poetry: cats are very curious about the […]

My iPhone is a more reliable tool for capturing and retracing my mind’s wanderings than my writer’s notebook. Images are my favorite form of note-taking. Screenshots capture my learning, wonders, curiosities, and commitments. I snap places I want to travel and poems I need to share with my students. I snap other teacher’s whiteboards, other […]