This was originally published on a website called, “Off the Page,” that was wonderful, but is unfortunately no longer, so I’m archiving it on the blog. Enjoy! What she loved about her desk job in her college dorm was the to-do list that greeted her at the beginning of her shift. Design this month’s bulletin board, write events on the… View Post

A few days a week, I work with first and second graders to help with their reading and writing development, and this month I thought it’d be fun to write and draw a little journal response that integrates what we read, with something to be thankful for. For example, a couple of first grade girls worked through the story, Beautiful Animals,… View Post

My favorite moment with Harper this year happened in the middle of the night in Boone, NC in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She’d been fighting an ear infection, and before she’d gone to bed that night, Jesse was explaining that there would be a meteor shower shortly after midnight – stars burning up faster than you can blink your eyes… View Post

How can I confess that I do not know the person I gave birth to; who literally came from within me? The truth is, I am constantly getting to know her – her definition grows, twists, vanishes then comes back, darkens then brightens, it is palpable and then it is barely evident – a whisper in my ear during a… View Post

Beginning: In a first grade classroom down the road, there is a piece of chart paper stuck to the wall. “ON GATHERING STORIES,” is the title of these notes. You should listen, pay attention to small moments, use details that are vivid, and my favorite reminder: “You might think you’re done, but you’ve only just begun!” I know about the chart… View Post