I recently got back from a twenty-four-hour trip to Philadelphia to work with my teaching fellow, a teacher at Hotchkiss and a graduate student in University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Education program. For her work, she teaches some Hotchkiss classes, takes courses (both online and in person at various points in the year), and works…
“Why”…Wednesdays
24. Why I Love Reunion
When we first got to Hotchkiss, an older teacher warned us to “Get out of dodge (Dodge?) during reunion weekend.” That teacher let us know that the five and ten-year classes often behaved in ridiculous ways, the dorm would be loud all night, and mayhem would ensue. Why would we stick around, we wondered, since…
23. Why I Love GOOD Pranks
I know the adage, “It’s not fun unless it’s fun for everybody,” and completely agree. If a person does something mean and calls it a prank, really she/he’s just lying about being a bully. I’m not for that. But the other morning, when a bouncy house appeared in the middle of our school’s Dining Hall,…
22. Why I Read APs
Hi Loyal Readers. First, a note about the photo. When I sign up to read APs each year, the College Board makes me promise not to take photos of the reading itself. The photo above, I hope, provides no secret information about what’s behind the curtains (which is about a thousand college and high school…
21. Why I’m Excited about My Internship
By the time this post becomes public (If you know me at all, you’ve already figured out that I’m often a couple weeks ahead of writing my “Why I…Wednesday” posts.), I will have been Metamorphosis Literary Agency’s newest summer intern for two days. The first thing you might wonder is why somebody with a full-time…
20. Why I Ask First
I’ve had a weird day. Twice in the last twenty-four hours, I’ve been shouted at for being rude in separate cases in which I truly believe I didn’t do anything wrong. It all started with the Dining Hall sushi. (Aside: Our Dining Hall is amazeballs. They brought in trays and trays of terrific sushi from…
19. Why I Take Classes
I’m a teacher. I’ve been a teacher for so long that I can get perfect scores on the vocabulary and grammar quizzes I give without having to study. I’ve been grading essays so long that I can read a student’s introduction and see exactly what’s wrong with it. I’ve told so many students where to…
18. Why I Love Spring
When we moved into this house thirteen years ago, we planted this peach tree in our front yard. (We also planted a cherry tree at the side of our house, but alas, it didn’t survive until its second year.) Within a couple years, we had a few peaches. I don’t love the peaches (though I…
17. Why I Watch Shows
I started this website because I want to be a writer. I know that to become a writer, I have to write and read. I have to spend a lot of time, more than I’m spending now writing and reading, yet day after day, I find myself enjoying the guilty pleasure of television shows on Netflix….
16. Why I Love Passover
For years, I’ve organized a Passover Seder at my school. Because Hotchkiss has a global population, many of the students here can’t go celebrate holidays with their families. The School generously supports my efforts both to provide a Seder for the Jewish students here and to open the Seder to non-Jewish students, faculty, and staff…