Life on the Runn...

Well, it's that time of year again. For the eleventh time, I'll be welcoming a new group of young people into my life and doing my best to ensure they leave me in June better and wiser than when we met in early September.   I recently did the math - as best I could considering block scheduling, A and B day classes, and semester courses - and I think I have had the distinct pleasure of working with somewhere near 2,000 students. And I truly do consider it a pleasure, an honor, that I've been able to do what I love, to face new and unique challenges with each class and each year, to meet some of my favorite people - colleagues and students (those Acadec peeps, I tell ya!),  and to grow in my practice and perspective.  There have been days, and not that long ago, a whole year,    where I am more defeated than I'd like to admit, times when I worried I wasn't the best at what I was doing or that my best wasn't good enough, but then I hear a student say somet

I headed to the Fox Valley on Wednesday evening for a literacy conference, and while it meant I was one step closer to the end of summer (August, why must you always come so quickly?!),   I got to English teacher nerd-out for two full days.  And if that wasn't enough, I also got to spend a few, brief moments with my bestie.  Imagine my surprise - and excitement - when I saw Katie in the hotel lobby and then got to steal quick conversations with her during caffeination breaks.  Next conference, we'll have to road trip together in order to have the whole drive home to talk about how great our hero, Kelly Gallagher is! Post-conference, Brian and I headed to Appleton to attend my cousin Dane's wedding.  Even though it had only been a few months since the Unti family got together, it felt as if it had been ages, so our family Friday evening was fantastic.  And everyone - yes, every one of us - was there!  We probably should have gotten a picture of the whole crew, but that wo

...we find ourselves in Colorado! Summer, for the last several years, has meant varying amounts of time in Colorado, and this summer, we were sure to keep the tradition alive with a trip to the Front Range. Our five days in Boulder were filled with all sorts of great things: we took multiple trips to Rocky Mountain National Park (along with about a billion tourists -- I guess we're all technically tourists, ha?!); we spent time with our Boulder crew; we went hiking; and we went to two Tedeschi Trucks Band shows -- how 'bout it for dueling evenings at Red Rock Amphitheater?! From dinner dates to watching climbing competitions with the crew, it was a real feel-good trip, and it was as difficult as ever to pack up and head home, which is why we spent some of our time exploring the possibility of building ourselves a nice little mountain hideaway.  Sure, we had to dodge raindrops a bit (hello Colorado summers) - including at the end of Saturday's show and the beginning of