https://youtu.be/oeAN8Xxz0q4 Dr. Quentin Lee This man might be my new hero. He made me laugh out loud. I will need to channel his spirit in a couple of weeks as I will spend a decent amount of time reminding middle schoolers to distance, sanitize, and stay masked. Now, keep in mind that I come from …
Category: teaching
Escape Goats
Quotes from Goats by Dan Monteiro, St. Martin's Press, 2018 Yes, I have a whole book of pictures and quotes by goats. The picture above is captioned Live like someone left the barn door open. Sound advice in normal times, n'est-ce pas? The title for this one: You can't graze the pasture if you don't …
A letter to my students
Teresa Ann Bell 1975-76"... Appalachian State ... French teacher ... enjoys reading, sewing, music, dancing, concerts, singing ... talkative" Dear 2019-20 Students, As you can see from the photo, I am going out on a limb here, out of my comfort zone. That photo is your French teacher, taken during her senior year at Harris …
Becoming a Big Year Old
One of my 7th grade advisees used the term "big year old" earlier in our year together. He was referring to the 8th graders who were eating lunch in the courtyard outside my room. He didn't want to go out there and be with the big year olds. Horror. I had to laugh. Maybe he …
42 years and counting
My life in middle school. 4 personal years (1968-1972) + 38 teaching years (1980-present) = 42 years spent in middle school. Oh yea. Really. And there is rarely a dull moment. Take today for instance. I gave my 8th graders an assignment to use their vocabulary for homes and neighborhoods. You have been offered a …
Cuppycakes
In my humble opinion, the best thing we do at my school is group kids into advisories. I am not sure how long ago we started doing this, to tell you the truth. When I arrived at DA in the fall of 1980, as a just-turned 22 year old, I faced a group of …
Happy New Year!
(Gonza Tacos y Tequila, Durham, NC- site of our faculty party) My new year doesn't begin in January. It begins in August. It has for all but the first five years of my life. For the last 38, I've been in charge, seated behind the "big desk" as a friend used to put it. Well, …
Got Gratitude?
I am not especially fond of photos of myself, but this is the only one I could find of my Got Gratitude? classroom bulletin board. I do not and I repeat, emphatically, do not like creating bulletin boards. I have only one in my classroom. I come up with an idea at the beginning of …
Summer Vacation Day 2: Sticks and stones
Sticks and stones. I had a completely different idea for today's post. Then I took a break from writing and decided to take a hike. It was a stunningly beautiful June day in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Blue skies, 72˚F, cool breeze blowing, quiet. I grabbed my camera, my purse, my walking shoes and set …
Summer Vacation Day 1: A porch with a view
Well, Summer Vacation, the 2017 Edition, is officially underway. There is the minor detail of about 20 student comments that still have to be written, but I have until Monday at 5:00 pm. Hours and hours. At the last minute, I decided to book myself into a writer's retreat. Remember, in the last post I …
the sabbatical chef 