Who doesn’t love a week off? I’ve always used my February break as a time to rest up before the start of a very busy season of the school year… March is a long month for teachers, and it’s when middle school ELA teachers are forced to turn a good deal of attention to the…
Tag: Photo Journal
2021 February – Week 5
I’d like to pretend January was 2020’s hangover and that February will be the real new year, because January was rough. And on the last day of it, I witnessed one of the saddest things of my lifetime. I knew the funeral would be rough, and I was prepared for the tiny coffin… Or so…
2021 January – Week 4
At some point the upsetting news will stop pouring in, right? There’s just been so much loss lately… I no longer feel confident that I know how to walk through this world. I thought I understood— sure, there’s sadness, but that’s how we appreciate the happiness. Loss and emptiness are a part of life from…
2020 December – Week 53
Well. We made it. I made it. To the end of a year full of both upheaval and stagnation. Of uncertainty. Disenchantment. Rage. Of hope and love. Disquiet and quiet. All words that pack a punch this time but could probably be recounted at the end of every year. Because life is always a mixed…
2020 December – Week 51
We are inching closer to 2021, and I’m very much looking forward to the new year. I’m ready for it in a way I’ve never been before. And it’s not just because this fucking year can suck it, but because I’m ready for new things. I feel like, despite everything — the crazy uncertainty, the…
2020 September – Week 38
Why is 2020 so hell-bent on destroying us? This was one of the shittier weeks, and that’s really saying something. It lasted TWENTY-ONE DAYS! Every teaching task takes forever because it isn’t one task, it’s ten. And I’m not sure any of it is truly meaningful in the way I’d like it to be. Every…
2020 September – Week 37
I am learning a lot about myself this week. Lucy aptly named the fun facts “Tiffacts.” For example, I discovered that I like to narrate my actions to Sam in a sing song voice (I think he likes to be updated, especially in this manner). I also seem to dance during pretty much every household…
2020 September – Week 36
Hello Week Thirty-six. And goodbye to the life I’ve known for the past eleven years. This was the last week in which Brian and I lived together. It’s really quite… I don’t know. The feeling is indefinable. But perhaps that’s because at the time of writing this, he hasn’t actually left the final time yet….
2020 August – Week 35
The week before school starts is usually filled with a frantic excitement. I try to put everything in order so I can start the year fresh, putting my best foot forward. This year… Well. I still tried to get everything in order, but it was far more frantic than exciting. I spent some time at…
2020 August – Week 34
This week, I purged. I’m still in the process of purging, actually. It’s a glorious feeling, getting rid of things. Cleansing. Any other year, I would be excited to get everything organized before the start of the school year, so that I could feel mentally ready to go and energized by the idea of a…