The Post That Could Get Me Fired

(originally published on Boundless on September 24, 2012)

Last week we went over our social networking guidelines at school. Besides the obvious: don't be inappropriate with students through texting and Facebooking, we were further directed to "always think and write like an educator" (boring) and "never use a blog...to comment about your job duties" (like this? and "never blog or write about extremely personal subjects" (is my homeless mother extremely personal?). The handout told us that any Facebook pictures that show "the use of alcohol...or anything students are prohibited from doing" could result in discipline, which made me want to

Summertime, and the Reading Ain't Easy

(originally published on Boundless on June 7, 2012)

Today I brought in a grocery bag full of books for a 7th grader who devours hardcovers faster than I eat a quart of ice cream.  His face lit up and he exclaimed, “Thanks Mrs. Miller–this will be a great summer!”  I was proud. 

But frankly, summer reading causes a lot of angst in my life.  I’ve had parents petition the superintendent saying that my requirements are too restrictive (policy: read 6 books of your choice = you get a 100; 5 = a 90; 4 = an 80, and so on).  I’ve had parents show up and slam a stack of workbooks down on a desk and huff out that this is what they did with their children over the summer, since I didn’t assign enough.  I’ve read the research.  I know that kids who read 6 books, on average, continue any gains they have made academically, and I know

Grammar of the Heart

(originally published on Boundless on January 7, 2012)

This week my students packaged up a book that was carried to the small village of Katholk, Southern Sudan where the children there would open it up to find letters and pictures from each of my 84 students describing everything from a typical school day to Thanksgiving to hairstyles to fire trucks to bathrooms.  Julie Elmore, our friend and correspondent from Sudef, the organization we are working with, also delivered paper, pencils, crayons, and markers.  The children will tell their own stories to her and for the first time ever, hold school supplies in their hands and draw pictures to return to us.  Once we have those, we will narrow down our own words, involve some of our own artwork and Julie’s photographs, and write a book that is the collaboration of children in a small town in NH and children in a small town in Southern Sudan.  We hope to find some generous publisher who will consider this book, and then donate any proceeds to the building of the health clinic and school in Katholk.  I think this is one of the most remarkable projects my students have ever taken on.  

But it was not my idea. 

Equity (or the lack thereof)

(originally published on Boundless on January 22, 2012)

I’ve been thinking long and hard about the equity issue that I discussed in my newspaper article for January, especially since a recent phone call from my daughter, who is fortunate enough that her father was in a position to save up enough money to pay for her tuition at DePaul University in Chicago.  She was upset because one of her best friends had to come home from college this week.  His family couldn’t afford the tuition and had to make some tough decisions. 

This is a boy who graduated at the top of his class.  He is brilliant, driven,