Heatherings

Well, it's well into quarantine day 10...and I'm just now feeling like I can unpack my emotions of the past 240hrs. I was supposed to be substitute teaching for my favorite high school English class for 20 days starting on March 5th. I got to Wednesday the 11th when all chaos was unleashed across the world, and the creeping effects of the COVID-19 virus started to seep into our daily lives. Wednesday, March 11, 2020: It was a half day block schedule for the kids, so we only saw 2nd, 4th, and 6th period that day. There was an odd staff meeting called that basically said, "Please show up PROMPTLY at 1:20 pm. We cannot write this in the email, so please be on time..." With that ominous note, we all thought we were going to get notice of the school district closure. Nope, we just got the announcement that one of the vice principals was going to be moving to a middle school...at the end of the year. THAT WAS IT. Go on back to your rooms, now. (Unbeknownst to us at ab...

“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” -Seneca After quitting full-time teaching in 2015, I am still drawn to substitute teach because I love humans. I love trying to understand the complexities of what makes a certain human act the way they do.  I love helping other people understand things about literature and characters' motivations and then essentially about themselves. About three and a half years ago, I found a school that I just LOVED going to. The kids were a little bit rough around the edges, but also sweet...(as sweet as high schoolers can be...haha). And here I am, still going back for my favorite teachers almost 4 years later. The reason I like this high school and these people is that the teachers seem to have a similar mindset: better the soul and it betters the mind. The number one thing that is important to most of the staff is other people. They are not imprisoned by rubrics and statistics that jail them into thinking they aren't good ...