Trying (and failing) to care less
Normally when a new semester starts, I think about what I want to accomplish–for myself professionally, with my students, in the department/university. …
21 Goals for 2021
When I wrote my “20 Goals for 2020” last New Year’s day, I had no idea how prescient some of my plans …
20 goals for 2020
Amid the debates about whether we’re starting a new year or a new decade, I saw a Twitter thread last week about …
New semester resolutions
Ask any educator. August is a month full of intense ambivalence. The last vestiges of summer feel tinged with anxiety over to-dos …
Wist and wonder at life’s seasons
The first of three alarms would blare at 5:30 a.m., with back-ups set for 5:34 and 5:36, respectively. (I learned after the …
When workhorses say stop
A few years ago, one of my mentors described me as a Clydesdale–a creature that is capable of accomplishing a tremendous amount …
2016 theme: ‘Bitches get stuff done’
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve spent a good number of days at the airport with my father-in-law, Ray-Dad, wrenching on airplanes. The …
Flashback Friday: Swimming with dolphins
It’s day five of a ridiculous cleanse diet, during which I’ve babied a head cold. I’ve spent most of this week-o-fun grading papers and …
A grateful heart: Coffee-n-walks
We set out in a new direction every week. Winding around campus. Meandering through quaint downtown streets. Attempting, for a minute anyway, to ford Big …
13 things writing students need to know
It’s obvious when a class’s honeymoon period is over. It happens after the first essay is graded and it feels like deflated …