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Some Sentiments About 20 Years at Stevenson
*** Last week I received an email from human resources about celebrating 20 years at Stevenson University. And I used to think the 13 years I spent at the Baltimore Orioles was a long time. When I taught my very first semester at Stevenson in January of 2000, I was pregnant with my son, Matthew, and was hired as an adjunct professor. Now, Matthew is a junior in college. When you look at it through that lens, a long time has passed. I moved into full-time teaching in 2008, when Stevenson changed its name from Villa Julie College to Stevenson University. Prior to my time at Stevenson, I began teaching…
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Some Updates on Some things
As I’ve been a little out of touch, I thought I’d share a few updates, and things that have been happening during quarantine of late, starting with… The Unnamed Boat The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement. On my birthday in mid-August, my husband surprised me by purchasing a boat. Our friends upgraded to a new vessel, and he bought their boat. As I had been out on their boat several times, it was a lovely, and completely out-of-the-blue surprise. Since then, we’ve been spending as much time on the water as we can before the season ends. Growing up, my dad had boats. When I was…
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What Are You Missing Most Right Now?
Here’s the question: WHAT ARE YOU MISSING MOST RIGHT NOW? Most of us are probably missing the freedom we used to have to travel, being with those we love without social distancing, and seeing the world. Plus, as I am working on my syllabus for feature writing, I typically instruct and assign an article about travel writing. This morning I woke up realizing I may have to take this assignment out. How can I expect the students to travel and write about their local travel in these present circumstances? This semester is going to be unusual enough without now having to rethink assignments. I’m going to have to get creative.…
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Advantages & Disadvantages of Working from Home
✨ADVANTAGES of WORKING FROM HOME✨ 1-you can go without jewelry and shoes and no one really cares2-you can work during the day or night at whatever time works for your schedule or short commute3-you can take potty breaks whenever you want4-you can multi-task without anyone really seeing you do it5-you can play music while you work and not bother anyone6-you can stretch your back on the floor after sitting for so long at the computer at your leisure7-your walk to the cafeteria (your kitchen) is much shorter8-you can squeeze in an exercise when it suits your agenda that day9-you can take quick breaks with your family and eat meals together10-you…
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In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week & A Thank You to My Students
In the laundry room on Pointer Ridge Drive in Bowie, Maryland, where I grew up, my parents hung my large blackboard I got for Christmas. The laundry room was a good size, and the perfect place for me to set up my schoolroom. My aunt had given me a grade book she used when she was a teacher, and at the age of eight, I began practicing to be a teacher by writing on the board, planning lessons, and marking the imagined students’ grades in my grade book. Mrs. Schuman and Ms. Cosby were my fourth grade teachers, and I watched how they conducted the class. I wanted to be…
