Welcome and Bienvenidos

Welcome to my blog!

Here you will see the inner workings of an author’s mind, and if that doesn’t scare you, then by all means, tag along.

As an author (and teacher), I am part of the gifted class of procrastinators who use any and all means to divert their attention from the task at hand. This blog, while a mandatory diversion, is still just that: a distraction from the writing or grading I should be doing. That said, you will see the varied and sundry detritus that occupies my wandering mind—everything from (hopefully) insightful tips and confessions about writing, quandaries from the life of a high school teacher (Teenagers, curious about what your English teacher may say when you aren’t around? Listen up!), and insights from my latest studies or current readings.

To begin, I want to offer a simple thank you. Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for clicking on my blog. And thank you for reading this far (you deserve an award). English Teacher Me knows it’s difficult to get anyone to read more than the title. (Hands if you agree?)

I hope this blog offers you entertainment and encouragement, as those are the pillars of my purpose in writing. To satisfy the first pillar today, here is a favorite student quote I picked up years ago that stuck with me: “Why do teachers always grump?”

I must say that Makayla posed a question that both points to a deep truth and a deeper problem. Why, indeed, are teachers often grumpy, or, as she so poetically put it, why do we grump?

I’ll offer my answer: because no matter how hard we work, or how much we envision the learning and maturing we desire in our classroom, we cannot always win. We take the L more days than we take the W, and over time, that feeling causes many of us to creep close to despair. Too many students arrive in my room not ready for the essays I want them to write. Too many students miss the days I have planned to workshop their writing. Too many students are plopped in ISS on the day we cover new material. (I’ll reserve my rant about ISS for another day.)

Students, hear me when I say, we do not “grump” because we do not like you. We grump—or at least I grump—when I feel like I have failed you. That feeling, the one when a student slips out of my hands at the end of the year, not fully prepared for the next grade level, lands like a karate chop to the gut. I lose sleep over it. I tell my husband about it. I dream of things I could have said that would have worked.

That is my answer to why this teacher sometimes grumps. The monumental task of educating you guys is just plain hard. So, forgive us for occasionally being grumpy. Forgive us for not teaching you what you deserve to know—we try. I try.

I will keep trying. You are worth it.

Hasta pronto,

C