All About Me...
(Are you sure you want to know any of this?)
Renée...
...and who I am.
| mom | writer | teacher | learner | friend |
Here's a haiku that I wrote in my mind while taking a walk one early fall morning in Larkspur, California... maybe you'll like it. I do!
You know what they say about kids?
They say once you have them, you have them!
I always thought that was funny.
Here are my gifts....
Erik is my son, a musician, a student, and an all around very cool person.
Here's one of my favorite stories about him:
One day, the first week of school when he was in fifth grade, he came home and said, "I have to have a trombone." So we rented a trombone and he's been playing it ever since! One thing I truly admire about Erik is that he marches to his own drummer.
He just does things his way!
My daughter Mariah is a writer, a thinker, and a wonderfully creative human being. She writes poetry and plays soccer, pays attention to the world and is very assertive, self-confident, and socially-conscious. When she was in second grade I asked her one day what she had done in school and she told me it was none of my business. She's been taking care of herself and her own life, ever since. What a great person she is!
This picture was taken in the early 80's
Weren't they cute when they were little?
"If every time you sat down, you expected something great,
writing would always be a great disappointment."
~ Natalie Goldberg ~
Writing Down The Bones
I wish I could say that I write every day and have a lot to show for it. But I don't, and I don't. I do love to write, and to read other peoples' writing, but I can really be lazy sometimes. The thing is that I'm most creative when I'm half asleep, and just haven't disciplined myself to get up and get it down on paper. I've lost a lot of poems that way. I have written a couple of short stories, one of them pretty good and the other pretty lame, but I've had a few articles published about my multiage classroom, and I do have a notebook full of poetry, so I guess that's something.
wet and spread
along the shadowed drive
To read more of my
poetry, just click on the flashing star.
"Many years ago I began to play the cello. Most people would say that what I am doing is 'learning to play' the cello....In short, I will go on 'learning to play' until I have 'learned to play'and then I will begin to play. Of course, this is nonsense. There are not two processes, but one. We learn to do something by doing it. There is no other way."
| Here's what I think. I believe that children learn to read by reading, that they learn about mathematics by tackling interesting problems, that they learn science through the process of investigating their environment, and that they learn about social studies by participating actively in the running of a classroom. That's what I think. | |||
Since I believe we all learn mostly by doing, I tried to remember, as a teacher, to keep my mouth shut and let my students get to it. What was really cool was when students came up with something on their own that they wanted to find out and I could point them in a direction of self-discovery. That's when teaching was most satisfying.
| I loved my multiage classroom, where first, second, and third graders all worked together, helping each other, teaching each other, solving problems and exploring without worrying about grade levels. It wasn't always quiet, and it wasn't always neat, but it was always vibrant and interesting, and every day was different.
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| Life is a big, giant playground and classroom, and we are all, all at once, students and teachers! There are always more questions to ask, and every answer triggers a new question. In the end, all I'm really sure of is that the more I know, the less I know, and that every day is a new adventure. And it's all people... people and ideas and experiments and a constant give and take. My friends and family have taught me so much about life, love, and being connected. The older I get, the more the lessons make sense, and the less I worry about what's next. Nice place to be, on this journey...... |
| Work has been a constant learning experience for me. As a schoolteacher, I learned from children and colleagues every day, and mostly what I learned was that there is always more to know. As a chat host in Spirit Forum, I've discovered a zillion new ideas from almost as many different people. OK, maybe not that many, but it's truly mind-boggling sometimes, to realize how little we all are, and how magnificent. There is so much out there! So many ideas, so many perspectives, so many individual truths. |
I have always loved to read! Here are some of my favorite books....
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner |
| Stephen makes me smile, opens me up, makes me think about new ideas, and gives me warm hugs. |
Lynda shares her creativity, makes me laugh, and reminds me that life is a crack up. |
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Tom shares stories about teaching, sends me goofy greeting cards, and encourages my wacky side. | ||||
| Christine & Jim tap into my silly side and are always there when I need a hand with something around the house or in the neighborhood. |
Dan is always just a phone call away when I need someone to talk to and remind me that everything is "okie dokie." |
Mike sends me emails both thoughtful and funny, and helps me with html. |
Luc reminds me to love myself, something that I sometimes forget to do. | ||||
| Sharon encourages me to be me and gives me unconditional advice. |
MagikDan trades sarcasm with me and is always there when my computer goes wacko. |
Latana reminds me that love is a choice and that there is light everywhere for the enjoying. |
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| Check out these webpages... | Stephen | Lynda | Mike |
| PeripheralVisions | Share2Learn |