Teaching
Survival School
When I exited the public school classroom several years ago, I had no idea the unforeseen bullshit I’d spare myself. There were many anti-educational evils that I grew tired of battling, yet the fucking plague wasn’t among them. Followed by the political push to force in-person education amid the rising number of COVID-19 infections and … Continue reading
Spoken Word for Insomniacs
During the first day of the 2014 Austin Feminists Poetry Festival, the rain poured down. Despite the inclement weather, I’d prepared 30 booklets for my “Spoken Word for Insomniacs” workshop just in case. I also took the opportunity to set up a stylish display of my book and Austin Writer Roulette business-card-sized fliers. The space … Continue reading
AISD Superintendent Search Meeting 7/16/14
I arrived to the meeting room for the AISD superintendent search a few minutes early and found the room empty. Puzzling. Just the day before, when I’d mistakenly gone to the Carver Museum, then the Carver library, I’d checked the meeting room calendar to confirm the actual date and time. By 11:25 am, five minutes before the … Continue reading
The Never-Ending List
I’ll admit it: I struggle with arrogance. After all, I’m only a perfect nine. I know I have flaws. Yet I make the most of what I have. When revising my bucket list, I was initially stumped. Consider this: I’ve traveled around the world, driven cross-country, been published, happy, in love, thinner, younger, in good … Continue reading
Emancipated: How I Quit My Job in 4 3/4 Years
After teaching math and science for eight years outside the US, I relocated to Austin in July 2009. For the first two months, I didn’t have an outside job. I spent my time in my small apartment, polishing up my first novel, Tribe of One and painting. Yet I was optimistic that I’d find a teaching … Continue reading
Psychosomatic Illness?
I spent a blissful two weeks on vacation and got a half day reprieve from professional development in form of a dental appointment on Monday morning. A three year-old had allegedly died after a trip to the dentist recently, which rattled me a bit, going into my own dental appointment. Yet, I’m an avid flosser; … Continue reading
Standardized Testing Hell
From an academic standpoint, this past week was pretty much devoid of academic rigor, thanks to the latest round of standardized testing. The normal school schedule was drastically changed in order to accomodate the freshmen and sophomores taking the writing portion of the STAAR. The students who weren’t testing, participated in either a TAKS camp … Continue reading
No Hotdogging Around
This past week at school has been intense. Not because of the students or, miraculously, the administrators. I’m in the final countdown of the number of classes until my little ghetto brats take their finals. In the upcoming week, I’ve three more days with my A classes and only two more with the Bs. Fortunately, … Continue reading
Describing the Essence of Orange
One of the aspects of teaching that keeps me coming back for more is when the students say something so insightful that I ponder the ramifications long after the fact. One such jewel dropped from a student’s mouth when I was circulating around the room, helping my Physics students with their study guide in small … Continue reading
Between Bikram & Malbec
I don’t want to be “that teacher” who complains about the lack of vacation time, but for the fourth year in a row since teaching in Austin, the stretch between Labor Day weekend and Thanksgiving has been the worst time of the year. I’ve never noticed that before. Perhaps teaching outside the States for a … Continue reading