30 years ago I worked on a cruise ship and got to travel more than I’d ever dreamed possible. I can still remember the feeling entering cities like Istanbul where armed military personnel were noticeable. It was disconcerting. Seeing the same in US cities now (we saw this in DC last week) is scary.

It is done and seems to be working fine.

We have needed to replace the light/fan in our bedroom for quite some time. (They stopped working by remote so we pulled the chains. The fan stopped working so I use a floor fan. The chain on the light broke so now it's just art hanging from our ceiling.) This will be a test of our marriage.

This is an important question and I feel like Shana usually gets responses so that makes me think there haven't been any noticeable protests. Can anyone shed light?

I am struggling with this. 1. I still cut out the paper crossword puzzles and mail them to my 98 year old grandmother. 2. I want investigative reporting to still exist. Who do I send my money to these days? (NPR is still on my list. I may go back to the Atlantic and Mother Jones.)

If I never hear another thing about 99 Nights in the Forest I will still have heard about three lifetimes too much.

I'm realizing that a big part of starting every school year is deciding what hill I'm going to die on at any given moment in my classroom. (Not the big, ongoing hills, the little, daily ones.) Right now it's pushing in our chairs. I am bruised from tripping over stools & chairs out in walkways.

I can't get over how much better my life is because I made a change that makes me happier. I am able to eat healthier, be more focused, and be more present. Not being happy (to small extents and, of course, even more to large extents) can make everything else harder.

I changed schools and districts this year. I nearly doubled my commute. I am happier than I have been in years. Sometimes you need a change. That can make all the difference. Now I can take action in ways I couldn't when I wasn't happy. I didn't have the energy or space in my brain.

My fourth grade team compartmentalizes so I teach two groups of students math and science. My teammate teaches those kiddos language arts and social studies. Said teammate had a birthday yesterday. Mine is tomorrow. I am still, even before tomorrow, more than twice her age.

Listening to @mrchase.bsky.social and @clehmann.bsky.social discuss their book, School 2.0, on it's 10th anniversary is giving me life. That sounds hyperbolic, I know. And maybe it is. But also, these podcast episodes are keeping me moving forward. (When I get more organized I'll link to it. Sigh.)

My 22 year old is doing her student teaching in a high school theatre classroom in a school that bans phones. She is relieved both as a teacher and as a person. She’s on her phone less. She’s more present. She’s spending lunch reading. It’s beautiful.

At Open House today I got to meet many of my fourth graders. One brought me flowers and chocolate and another brought an About Me page they’d completed. I am so psyched about this year. (Students have never brought me anything at Open House so this is exciting.)

The only thing that compares to this is the lists of things you "need" when you're having a baby. It is absurd what people register for and buy that they never end up using because they're told how critical it is.

Possibly unpopular opinion: I think the laser focus on data in education has contributed to deprofessionalizing teachers. I’m not completely anti-data. I am concerned that teachers are not trusted unless they have numbers to prove what they know.

I don’t always find Audrey’s writing easy to read because she is brutally honest about the realities with technology. That’s also why I find her writing so critical to read. It’s important to know.

Our kids are 21 and 18. Yesterday we drove up to NYC, saw three Broadway shows, got up this morning to meet friends for brunch, hit an art museum, and see one more Broadway show. We’re almost home again. These moments are precious as I know they won’t last forever.

This thread feels far too familiar to me. This fall, as I begin my 28th year of elementary classroom teaching, I will be teaching science and math to two groups of fourth graders. I can’t do what we are being told to do in literacy instruction anymore.

I am heading home from the ISTE+ASCD conference in San Antonio and I have mixed feelings. I spent time with amazing people and have a lot to think about. As one who has attended both ISTE and ASCd previously, I’m not sure yet how I feel about the joint conference.

I’m at the ISTE+ASCD conference and had a casual conversation about AI (not in a session, just chatting with folks) with people I greatly respect. I raised concerns about the environmental impact and some people seemed surprised and somewhat unaware. How many people don’t recognize this issue?

On the ground in Charlotte for a brief layover on the way to San Antonio for the ISTE+ASCD conference so waving to @thetattooedprof.bsky.social!

After 27 years of teaching, 17 years as a parent (those periods of time do overlap), & 7 years as a student in FCPS, I will no longer have any formal connection to the district. (That total is equal to my age so this feels right.) I am retiring & my children have graduated.

Well, people of Virginia, if you care at all about transgender kids, you need to vote for Spanberger, Hashmi, and Jones in November. And, then lobby for good legislation.

I've been a public school teacher for 27 years. I know how much local elected officials impact our public schools (and so many other things). @schoolmarmadvisors.com is someone I'd love to have as a local elected official and I am happily supporting her campaign financially.

I can't believe this book has been out in the world for two years. I will be forever grateful to @mattrkay.bsky.social for inviting me into this work and for sharing all of his wisdom and the energy he'd put into Not Light, But Fire.

The Trump team thinks Confederate traitors who killed Americans are worth honoring. But Americans who fought at Normandy in D-Day like Medgar Evers, or served in the Navy like Harvey Milk and Cesar Chavez, or worked as a spy for the US Army like Harriet Tubman, well, they are NOT worth honoring.

I offer some more advice to my soon-to-be-a-teacher grandson a week before I retire —-Advice for Beginning—and Veteran—Teachers www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

I have wanted that project for years. Identify the nice white people in every single CRM photo and attach a family tree.

I often feel like I am the only classroom teacher in the room (with professional organizations, policy discussions, and such). Teacher voice is needed in so many spaces. That said, the concerns and challenges voiced in the comments are valid.

It is the end of the day on a Friday with 2 1/2 weeks of school left. My 5th graders have been reading silently for the past 45 minutes because they got their book club book choices and they are all in. Thank you, children's book authors (and illustrators, but these are all novels)!

Today we finished @medenkuyatt.bsky.social's Good Different and my fifth graders were thrilled because they loved it and sad that it was over. One girl said, "Every time you finish a book you're reading to us I think, 'Now I want to read every book by that author.'" Feels like a win to me.

I have long enjoyed Naomi Shihab Nye's poetry and the one shared today on poets.org is no exception. It is beautiful and heartbreaking.

I know my kids won’t be in my home for these conversations forever so I try to stick it out when they want to talk. But keeping my eyes open for state testing today was more challenging than I’d like to admit.

Y'all, your young adult children (mine are 18 and 21) think this is the perfect time to talk with you at length (now being 9:45 pm and past my bedtime). Parenting changes and some things get easier, but I definitely wasn't prepared for this.

The last couple of weeks have been a lot in our house. I had the retirement ceremony for my school district. My oldest graduated from college. My youngest had their final high school production (they were the stage manager). I'm an emotional wreck. So I wrote.

13 years ago, the senior class asked me to speak to the graduating seniors as their convocation speaker. I thought the words I said then might still be relevant, even if the pop culture references and inside Mary Wash references might not be. techist.mcclurken.org/umw/2012-umw...

Short thread here from Matt, but worth recognizing. I have this problem with physical stuff and have to learn to pull back.

@jenorr.bsky.social, co-author of We’re Gonna Keep On Talking, talks the pandemic’s impact on students’ behavior and learning: www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Overheard on the playground with fifth graders: Oof, never trust a fart. I think I just crapped my pants.

I have not ever questioned Tressie's brilliance and yet I am still able to be impressed. This is perfection.

If you see this, post your getaway car.

One of our class jobs is Date Writer. When I modeled it at the start of the year I just wrote the day of the week and the date. The kids always do more when they take over.

The teacher next door has a class hamster. This morning he was not in his cage and, after nearly two hours of searching by many, is still missing. He is either terrified (seems to be most likely) or having an amazing adventure. Hoping for the best for you, Nugget!

I’m reading my fifth graders @medenkuyatt.bsky.social’s Good Different. Our school has an unusual number of students who have autism (we’re on a military post with a hospital so our community has a variety of medical needs). My students are connecting strongly with this book. I am grateful.

One of my fifth graders is our date writer. Every afternoon they prep this board with the next day’s date. Some date writers have added pictures but recently they’ve been adding jokes. I was glad to see no spelling errors in this one.

Sometimes I wonder if all my good luck is showing up in NY Times word games... Wordle 1,407 2/6 🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

If the case against Montgomery County Public Schools goes the way it looks like, I’m ready to gather people to begin suing school districts for the texts or lessons they use that are not inclusive. There have to be ways to use these same tactics to create schools that support all kids and families.

I want to believe that anyone who takes a moment to think, would immediately see what Jenn is saying here but if that were true, we wouldn’t see such a statement in a book.

“This dude is a snake oil salesman.” This might be the first time I’ve really understood how snake oil salesmen have done so well for generations. I needed to see it in the perspective of our current day. It is an absolutely apt description for Elon.

I have been so distracted today, trying to check back on this thread any chance I could. Thank you @angryblacklady.bsky.social for this work. As an elementary school teacher, I could not listen to the arguments this morning and this case is important. I am grateful for this thread.