Justice. When someone talks about “doing justice” or “getting justice” or “seeking justice,” it’s always about settling a score. After someone is harmed and they call for justice in anger or grief, they are asking for a similar harm or equally hurtful one to be placed against the offender. Our “criminal justice” system is set … More Introduction to Restorative Justice
In one classroom, all students hold a copy of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. For this particular unit, the teacher sits behind her desk with a clipboard watching the students digest the nuances, symbols, and allegorical elements of the book in complete silence. Every day for the couple weeks the unit takes, the students sit for 45 minutes … More Giving students reading choice
The spring of my junior year of undergrad, my boss at the time Dr. Robert Pyne met two women for lunch. These two women – teachers, mothers, and now grandmothers – came with disappointing news. An education program they had founded and championed for more than 15 years was ending officially, and they were heartbroken. … More The Project
Last month, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society debuted on Netflix and strangely catalyzed several similar emails coming to me. One person after another started to “follow” and “favorite” a Guernsey fanfiction piece I started in 2012. I haven’t updated in years, but occasionally I request a new password to see the reviews and stats, momentarily feel … More Abandoned Writing Projects
I had absolutely intended to write a post the weekend after the first day of school. Then when that weekend came and went, I thought a post after the first full week would provide a bigger picture of my time as a teacher so I justified saving it until then. Well, here we are, Sunday … More Reflection when there’s no time to reflect
No written text for this post, but check out this video of my new classroom! For information on some of the things you see in this video, here’s a link to a First Year Teacher’s Supply List.
The 2018-2019 school year is my first year as a teacher, what I hope in my youthful idealism will be a long and fulfilling career. I’ve been in my classroom almost every day for the past week and a half, and now that I’ve got my desktop up and running, we’re off to the races. … More A First Year Teacher’s Back to School Shopping List
Growing up, I constantly had stories going. In my bedroom with a pastel, wallpaper border separating violet and white walls, I typed up exactly two McConnaha News newspapers, featuring such stellar stories as “Maggie gets her first bra” and “Crash!” When the ribbon ran out I upgraded to an old computer that was not hooked … More Writing Nonfiction
I’ve been anticipating first days of school since my mom read “We Like Kindergarten” to me. I was always ready to go back to school shopping in late July or early August, before Target was even prepared for me. After a couple weeks of nagging, studying the classroom supply list, and forcing my siblings to … More First Day of School
This past week called into question the separation of personal duty and public service, and which takes precedence in a person’s life. That question for me is a kind of existential crisis because I can see myself becoming a “workaholic” (I can hear some people laughing and saying, no you are a workaholic). As someone who … More Empathizing with Anthony Kennedy
Mary M. McConnaha 