Of Poe and Poetry

Sometimes, I think of them–those teachers who tried to instill a love of learning in the heads of high school students several decades ago. I remember many of them; in particular, the English teachers. Two teachers come to mind. Mrs. Duncan taught English to the third year students at Central High. She was a no-nonsense, […]

Jump Right In To Fall

Happy first day of fall. In kindergarten rooms across the nation, I’m thinking there are changes. A fall decoration, doubtless, adorns the door. Inside, children and teacher step into a new unit on autumn. My kindergarteners learned math, science, language skills through units. They  would look for signs of changing seasons and fall was a […]

Learning Time

School has started in my neck of the woods–children and teachers returning to fresh adventures, seeing old friends and making new ones. Hopefully, this will be a fun-filled, safe year for all. I wondered, as I looked out at bird baths this morning, if birds need to learn bird-things from their parents, or if it […]

Valley Center

Valley Center

Sometimes I think about a little one-room school my brother and I attended in northern Oklahoma– wheat, alfalfa, and cattle country. The school’s name was Valley Center. The teacher was an unmarried woman, Miss Virginia. The school was her life and she lavished time, thought, and attention on it and her thirteen pupils, grades one […]

Falling Into Fun

Happy first day of fall. In kindergarten rooms across the nation, I’m thinking there are changes. A fall decoration, doubtless, adorns the door. Inside, children and teacher step into a new unit on autumn. I enjoyed teaching math, science, reading, and art in units. The children and I would look for signs that the season […]

School Daze

School Daze

Here in Arkansas, it’s back to school for many children this morning. And, teachers and school staff. The first day of school is always  exciting and for little ones who are going to school for the first time, it’s sometimes fearful. For parents, a mixture of sadness, fearfulness, hopefulness, gladness, and a fervent wish for […]