Dust more valuable than gold,
treasures worth their weight
in memory.
Antique steamer trunks
stacked at the foot of the bed
hold space, time –
capsules layered with matter.
I have been buying trunks on Marketplace to use as storage. I never liked the plastic totes and cardboard boxes I used to keep my items in. These feel full of mystery and history. They even inspire poetry.
I have always wondered why Hermione was placed in Gryffindor. She is clearly a Ravenclaw. Then I started thinking about the fact that I am Ravenclaw despite wishing to be Hufflepuff. The sorting hat must have known she needed Harry and Ron more than other smarty-pants people surrounding her. There are the people we are, the people we want to be, and the people we can become given the right influences and circumstances.
I let this blogsite get cancelled a while back because I did not have available funds to pay for it. Thankfully, when I was able to return, my information and domain name were still available. I was not so lucky with my other publishing website. I have to start over from scratch on that one.
But I feel okay about it all. A fresh start might give me a fresh perspective and kick me into gear with my self-publishing journey once again. It is NanoWrimo time and I have a great novel idea. I have moved to a a multi-generational home and quit teaching. I am focusing on my health and now have more time and energy to devote to my passions.
Would I have expected to be here if anyone had asked me a decade ago? Absolutely not. I could not have planned to be sorted into the family or house I am currently enjoying. Nor could I have foreseen the two ladies with whom I would be sitting here watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I found them through a chain of events I did not orchestrate.
Perhaps things come to us when and if the time is right if we are open to their arrival. We have to put in the footwork and be willing to accept the call, but maybe forces beyond our control are working on our behalf. I know it sounds a little woo-woo, especially when things are not going smoothly in life. And I may not feel this way when the next storm hits. However, it feels nice to think my wand has chosen me, that great things are in store, and just the right friends and family are by my side to battle the darkness.
(Photo by David Mao on Unsplash)
I have had a wonderful summer of healing from hip replacement surgery, finishing my Master’s degree in English and Creative Writing, taking long restful naps, and sipping tea while I immerse myself in story.
Tomorrow I return to work sharing my passion for the written word with others as an English Literary Arts and Reading teacher to secondary students (grades 6-12.) My goal this school year is to foster a classroom that encourages both reading and writing as methods of discovery, escape, healing, and growth. Whether the students decide to join me on this journey is another story. I will share weekly moments of triumph and failure as the year unfolds. This will be my 23rd year in education, but my first year of approaching the subject matter in this way. I am excited about the opportunity to try something new.
Wish my students and me luck! It should be quite the adventure.
I am happy to announce that great progress has been made in the last year. I have earned my Master’s Degree in English and Creative Writing, my grandchildren have been reunited with their parents, I finally had hip surgery, and I made it through the year teaching despite COVID. It has been a wild ride, but things are looking up. I see the glimmers of feeling better and stronger on the horizon. I am certainly more confident about my passion for writing and my commitment to making a career for myself in the literary field.
Here’s to constant improvement, even if it looks like barely any progress is being made. It is okay to tiptoe out of comfort zones, take teeny tiny baby steps toward goals, and spend tons of time researching options before picking the next right thing. This journey is not a race.
(Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axiosa)
My grandchildren and I have settled into a nice routine over the last few weeks. We get up early to eat and play, do homeschool and play some more. The weather has been either rainy or cool for the most part, so outside time can occur whenever they like. They play on the porch when it rains. The only weather we cannot tolerate is hot. Living in Texas ensures that the outdoors are inaccessible at least 3 months out of the year.
I have begun my master’s degree in Creative Writing and am enjoying the topics of discussion thus far. We are studying the way new words get added to our vocabulary. Some I think are of note are Rona for Coronavirus, skurt for go, and beat for applying makeup. I find the evolution of language fascinating. I am always interested in how words come about and why certain ones stick. I’m sure these are familiar to some, but I had never heard them until this year.
Teaching my actual students from home has gone great so far. I have only been asked to send little amounts of work on paper up until now. Beginning next week, I will teach some Zoom lessons…at least we are going to experiment with it! We shall see how it goes.
Another exciting leap I took was joining an online meditation/writing group. I love it! After meditating and relaxing, my writing flows so much better and I am getting back to my craft. I recommend writing and sharing with others once in a while. It is very motivating!
My granddaughter Charlotte started school today. I got up extra early to do her hair and help in any way I could to get the family out the door on time. I believe all went according to plan so Charlotte and her entourage began their trek on time. Three adults and her baby brother accompanied her on this momentous morning. I’m so glad everyone made a big deal about the beginning of this educational journey that she has begun.
As a teacher and a lifelong learner, the first day of school for any kid is cause for celebration. What is more exciting than diving into a world of unlimited intellectual expansion? Becoming a part of a cohort of learners with whom you will share the experience? Entrusting your development to a human being who will forever be remembered as larger than life?
Monday will be my 42nd first day of school. I look forward to this next batch of youngsters that I will have the opportunity to learn from. Every year feels full of potential, full of hope, and most certainly full of anticipation. I know some of my students may not have the same joyous energy of expectation for the first day of school as me. That’s ok. Exuberance is contagious. I’ll share mine.
I’m so glad my daughter and other family members circled around my granddaughter and walked as a village to her school. She has a long, fabulous, winding educational road ahead of her. As one of her great-grandfather’s said, “Today Pre-K, before you know it, college!”
Music is a fantastic way to bribe (ahem) encourage high school students to behave in the classroom. Nobody is allergic, it won’t send anyone into a diabetic coma, and it is free if you have YouTube! I let each student pick a song to add to our ever-expanding playlist. It can be any genre as long as the lyrics are appropriate for a classroom. I am fairly conservative with my judgment because I don’t want my principal walking in to “I Wanna Sex You Up” type lyrics. Also, my classroom is in a psychiatric treatment center and we have to be aware of patients’ triggers. If the song is screamy or super energizing, we might save it for an exercise break, clean up time, or as part of a game. I don’t play Lamb of God’s Set to Fail when we are in the middle of a test. Common sense needed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-C3Iove3I
As long as students are working, giving best effort, and meeting expectations, we play our class playlist. If not, the music gets turned off. I love it when I hear kids policing each other. “Stop talking to me or she’ll turn off the music.” “Do your work or she’s going to turn off the music.” It brings joy to my heart. Another one I’ve heard is “Be nice to her, she lets us listen to music.” I wonder if music has helped keep me from getting punched in the face all these years…
One of the coolest effects of music chosen by students is all the new songs I have been exposed to because of their varied tastes. I never would have found some of these songs or artists on my own. These may not be the clean versions, so if you are a teacher, be sure to listen to them for yourself before playing them for your particular group of kids. Students introduced me to the following: Weak by Wet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L2tfNrKsYI Steve Lacy’s C U Girl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KJIUXbfARk This Too Shall Pass by Ok Go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juX7VJIMsqc High Tops by Del Water Gap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksrb33z3boo Alec Benjamin’s My Mother’s Eyes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q_15W7eBH8 Color Blind by Diplo (featuring Lil Xan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ResGBWo10GQ Juice WRLD’s Lucid Dreams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fh64GbFSw4 Long Black Train by Josh Turner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZtwxc423jg Falling Down by Lil Peep and XXXTentacion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0jIW_pgGzE
Those are just a few from the last semester that I thought were worth sharing. Since I mostly listen to easy listening/70’s/80’s/Pop music, it introduces me to some of the new stuff kids like (or old stuff I’ve never been exposed to.) And I get to share some of the songs I like with them. Many have never heard songs I choose by Prince, Bob Dylan, The Who, The Beatles, Blondie, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Duran Duran, The Cure, U2, etc. They are intrigued, though, often write down the name of the song and band and want to look it up when they get home. It fosters a back and forth that is purely enjoyment based.
I may tweak my system a little this year, but will definitely still be using music in my classroom to foster interest, good behavior, and a little bit of buy in to our classroom. It’s like saying, “I get you. Your taste in music is noted and appreciated. Let’s share it with everyone.”
(The picture above is Lil Xan, a current musician? some of the kids like. All music was once radical to somebody.)
I read the novel Descent on a whim at the recommendation of a coworker and a student in one of my summer classes. It was a page-turner to rival the likes of James Patterson. What I wasn’t expecting was the surprisingly intricate prose. I was reminded of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The subject matter was dark, but written gorgeously. While on vacation in the mountains, a teenage girl goes on a run with her younger brother following on a bike for protection. Disastrously, the brother is injured and the girl is kidnapped. This is not too much of a spoiler since it occurs in the first few pages of the novel. The rest of the book is varying accounts told from the perspectives of each family member (and others) spanning several years of searching for the girl, dealing with life without her, and hoping she’s still alive.
The characters are well-developed and each of their motivations, fears, and doubts is picked apart like clues at a crime scene. Several themes that stood out for me were the ways in which we cope with tragedy, the power of survival instinct, and the lengths we go to for those we love.
Some of the scenes were too intense, gruesome, and mature for children. One brutal rape scene in particular is much too graphic to be allowed in my psych facility school library. But that intensity is part of what made the book hard to put down.
This DESCENT into depravity is paired with breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains, deep ravines, and forests. Whether by escape, rescue, or death, the reader needs resolution of some kind, any kind, which makes the book impossible to put down.
Some coworkers and I have traveled to San Antonio to stay the night in a hotel. Tomorrow is our convocation – that is a fancy name for first day back to work for teachers. We will all come together in a conference room or hotel ballroom of some sort and listen to speakers motivate us, tell us how wonderful we are for choosing our profession, how special our kids are, and how unique our school district is because of our mission.
I happen to love these sappy moments of reveling in the greatness that is a room full of teachers gearing up for a new school year. It feels like a locker room pre-game. Everyone is excited and talkative, getting pumped up for a win. The band is warming up, the cheerleaders are doing a dance routine, the crowd is buying snacks and settling into their seats…
Do they still pray before sports games? They did when I was in school in the south and I always loved the moment an entire crowd grew silent, listening to someone’s plea for safety and sportsmanship, hoping GOD would take the time to drop by for the game.
That is how these things feel to me…almost holy. Some teachers have confided in me that they hate these events, find them silly, wish money were spent more wisely, feel demeaned by team-building. I guess I am fodder for the peddling preacher that is a school superintendent. I want to believe that what we do is holy. I want to believe that GOD is in my classroom filling the space between outbursts and anger, fear and refusal. That the kids whose lives will touch mine will be bathed in grace and sent back out into the world nourished…or at least comforted.
I hope every teacher out there preparing for our next batch of kids gets the chance to feel encouraged, valued, and inspired at their convocation. It is a uniquely teacher-y thing that I for one am glad exists.
This morning I had tea with my mother Cyndee and sister Robyn. My mother made breakfast to order – a lovely omelet for me and a waffle for my sister. We had a nice visit and I showed off my new book that arrived in the mail. It feels good to hold the physical manifestation of so much hard work in my hands.
And that is where I sold my first ever novel…to my mom. 🙂
I am not proud of every part of the story I wrote. I am not pleased with every piece of dialogue. There are plot holes. I couldn’t decide on the ending. A few of my characters are not well-developed. I could have gone so much deeper with the idea behind the title. The list could go on.
I am very proud of finishing. I am proud of editing, formatting, setting up an account with Amazon kindle, and a bank account to deposit all of my cents into. I am proud of all the hours I put in, all the energy, creativity, emotion, and focus it took to make it happen. And I am beyond proud to have met a goal I set for myself many years ago of publishing.
Today was a good day. And I really don’t care if I ever sell another one of these books. I am a published author. I write books.
rebekahjmarshall 