Life on the Runn...

 I have been elbows-deep in learning and unlearning all summer.  My investment in antiracist equity work has led to countless hours of researching, reading, investigating, viewing, engaging, and sharing. This has been a priority, a true commitment to being a better educator, partner, parent, human.  If I were to prioritize the above 'being' list, I know parenthood would be the first item on it.  Becoming a parent has not only changed who I am in many, many ways, it has also come to be the way I define myself.  I know I have to be careful with this -- there is learning and unlearning to do here, too.  And, thanks to some summer reading, Untamed   by Glennon Doyle, I'm finding -- no, creating -- the freedom to do exactly that...and our tiny human, a perfectly free little being, has been an excellent model.  BR and I were late  eager arrivals  to parenthood (REMINDER TO SELF: We don't allow social constructs to define what's normal or...

Seven weeks -- it has been seven weeks since I logged into this platform.  While I try to write a little every day (a note to Harper, a personal reflection, a check-in on my learning and my practices), I couldn't bring myself to devote writing energy to this space.  I read and researched, read some more, shared, and dug into work that I knew would better myself - as a parent, as a teacher, as a human.   I have shared much of that work via Facebook (how some of you access this blog) and Instagram, and I will continue to do so (it's the least I can do in terms of making any kind of meaningful progress, of engaging with those near and far). But I'm ready, also, to tackle a few new topics in my writing...family time at the lake and our 14th anniversary, both of which take place next week. Until then, here is some reading for you, my summer reading list: 

Early this school year, one of my amazing co-workers, Paul, said something so striking as we delved into a discussion about writing.  He said he tells students to think of writing "as a verb rather than a noun."  It's English-teacher-obvious that writing can technically be both a noun and a verb, but Paul, an art teacher, was onto something so much deeper.  He inspired me; he shifted my thinking!  It is now that  time of year in teacher-land (No, not the time where we're counting down the days until summer, a time to catch our breaths and plan for the next sprint around the track...well, at least not entirely that): it's End-of-Year Evaluation Time.  I spent some time early this week completing the required documents, ensuring I wouldn't miss the submission deadline (and would have plenty of time to review, revise, doubt myself, review again, revise some more..it's not a healthy habit, I know).  As I worked through the various documents, I kept comin...

When I was growing up, my mom and I used to watch this movie,  Hope Floats.   From time to time, we still use a few of its greatest lines, and as I reflected on this new form of teaching and learning I find myself a part of, one line came to mind: "My cup runneth over!" This is typically my favorite time of the school year.  We're all in our groove.  The kids appreciate (or accept) my incessant hand-talking, book chatting, and super hilarious jokes. We share what we've learned; we take risks; we open up (I really am going to miss our "This I Believe" unit...it makes me cry and laugh and love my kiddos that much more).  We accept that our time is coming to a close, and so we hang onto each moment; we're a family by this time of the year.  When the "safer at home" order was first given, I thought I'd be missing a few weeks of the glory days of the school year.  And then face-to-face learning was cancelled for the duration of the school ...

... is my dad, Deputy Chief David B. Unti!  When my brother and I were very young, when we had settled into what would become our childhood home, my dad made a decision.  No, he made a sacrifice, the most selfless one a person can make.  He chose to become both a firefighter and an EMT.   He spent countless hours - after his full time job was complete and he had made time for his family - studying to be the very best at the very bravest of undertakings.  And for more than 25 years, he has given his time, his energy, his heart to the Mukwonago Fire Department.  I watched him function on barely two hours of sleep; I watched him carry on after devastating calls; I've watched him advance his skills and his rank; I've watched him model selflessness and courage each and every day.  So when people jokingly say, May the Fourth [Force] be with you, I call on you to think about International Firefighters' Day -- those fine people, my da...

Anyone who has ever shared a space with me knows that I love to dim lights, turn on my diffuser, grab the biggest, coziest blanket, and curl up with a good book, some good music, and an extra hot cup of tea. Anyone who has shared classroom space with me knows most of that list holds true. My brother used to tease me about this relentlessly: How could someone who talks so much demand so much quiet?  And BR has long claimed I want to live in a cave (I think he believes I'm a vampire).  I always thought, as much as I love -- no need -- to travel and adventure, home was a place I could never get enough of. I'm comfortable saying that I'm a homebody, but the 'safer at home'  order  has also made me certain that I thrive when I am in the company of others (maybe it could be quiet company?!).  A relaxed schedule (no commute and time to play with the tiny human before the work day begins) and a very relaxed dress code (shoes never required; yoga pants are now w...

This month's Reading Between the Wines selection was The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon.  It seemed to have a lot going for it when this Dateline and Forensic Files fan picked it up.  Murder, mystery, the beautiful expanse of the Alaskan wilderness. And for some, it may deliver.  For others -- that'd be me!! -- it doesn't quite measure up.  Though the book - for most of us - may have been a bust, Book Club itself was anything but.  I was really excited (and a bit nervous) host our March meeting.  We don't exist on Google Maps, so I had to share directions.  My gosh, I didn't want to lead my fellow readers astray -- or into Wales or Jefferson! Relief #1: I was told my directions were usable.  We haven't hosted a gathering since our new furniture arrived, and I wasn't sure if I should plan for us to chat in the sun room, in the great room, or...where? where? where? It turns out that the ol' saying is true, and the kitchen is ...