Tag: routine

• A Day In The Life

  Feb 3

  A Casual, Day-Long Stroll in My Shoes The day starts like any other day.Which is to say: against my will. Weekends are exempt from this story. Those are mythical creatures.… more ›

• So I like Coffee and Quiet Moments! What are ya gonna do!?

  Jan 31

  Quiet mornings are sacred. That’s where thoughts line up, memories wander in, and the day hasn’t started asking for things yet. It’s the opposite of chaos. And I’ve always had… more ›

• The Art of School Discipline

  Jan 30

  (Or: Why Your Kid Probably Isn’t a Villain, But Also Isn’t Perfect Either) There’s a part of me that’s always been a storyteller. I’ve spent years watching the chaos of… more ›

• The Noise of Learning

  Jan 29

  I used to think learning was supposed to be quiet.Neat. Orderly. Predictable. But in my world, it never sounded that way. It sounded like pencil scratches in the margins of… more ›

• Several Hundred Words Later

  Jan 27

  We’ve all been there. Not as heroes, not as villains—just as silent witnesses to someone else’s emotional eruption. That strange moment when you realize you’re no longer part of a… more ›

• Alone, But With Company

  Jan 27

  You can be in a room full of people and feel like the only inhabitant of a private planet. Not lonely—oh no, that would require longing—but singular, spectacularly self-contained. Sometimes… more ›

• Slowly, Almost Politely… Nobody Tells You This

  Jan 25

  Most of us don’t notice the moment when life starts changing. There’s no announcement, no warning label, no ceremony. One day you’re just living—busy, distracted, convinced you’ve got plenty of… more ›

• The Algorithm on Main Street

  Jan 23

  In Calexico, stories used to travel slowly. They moved on bicycles and sneakers, through chain-link fences and across dusty backyards. They passed through kitchens where tortillas puffed on comales and… more ›

• On Being 55

  Jan 21

  Ah, 55. A milestone just for being a milestone.Double nickels. What used to be the speed limit on most major freeways—which tells you exactly how long it’s been since anyone… more ›

• Crackers With My Coffee

  Jan 20

  I don’t drink coffee.I enter into a legally binding relationship with it. Coffee is not a beverage.It’s a survival tool.A personality stabilizer.A public safety measure. Without it, I am slow.I… more ›

• That Guy In The Mirror.

  Jan 19

  The inner voice.The alter ego. Sometimes the lone voice of reason.Often the reason we do stupid shit. He’s the first person you ever open up to—long before you open up… more ›

• Listening and Observing (I Promise This Matters)

  Jan 18

  Listening and observing—similar, but not the same. I don’t know why this has been living rent-free in my head, but it’s been there long enough that I should probably offer… more ›

• The Algorithm Knows I’m Hungry

  Jan 18

  As much as I hate to admit it, I—like countless others of my kind—spend more time scrolling the socials than I care to say out loud. But I’m admitting it… more ›

• Standards, Grades, and Other Things We Pretend We All Agree On

  Jan 15

  I sat through an administrator’s “clinic” the other day—one of those gatherings where the coffee is strong, the chairs are unforgiving, and the words learning standards are spoken with near-religious… more ›

• Coffee First. Then People.

  Jan 9

  Coffee first. Then people. This isn’t a lifestyle choice. It’s a safety protocol.  Somewhere between waking up, getting ready for work, unlocking the classroom door, and logging into email, caffeine… more ›