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CARITA GARDINER

What to Read When You're Avoiding School Work

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“Why”…Wednesdays

167. Why Look Up and Look Around

Posted on March 9, 2022March 9, 2022 by caritagardiner

I took the photo above as I walked up from my house to the building at Hotchkiss that houses most classrooms, the dining hall, the library, the auditorium, etc. (We call it the Main Building, but I’m guessing that if you donate a lot of money, you could get it named after you…or after me.)…

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166. Why You Can’t Believe Your Eyes

Posted on March 2, 2022March 9, 2022 by caritagardiner

Okay, so I know that the holidays happened a while ago, but (1) why not keep the spirit in our hearts all year? and (2) this post isn’t about Christmas, and (3) it’s never too early to start planning what to give to your favorite Wednesday blogger… As a member of the Senior class’s council,…

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165. Why Use Time Confetti

Posted on February 27, 2022March 9, 2022 by caritagardiner

I understand that the image above contains gems rather than confetti, but when I did an image search for “multi-sized pink glitter confetti”, this was one of the images to appear. And riddle me this: why would I ever not love this image? So, it’s not confetti, it should still help you understand my point…

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164. Why Sweet Grapes

Posted on February 23, 2022February 23, 2022 by caritagardiner

[I took the image above from a page with an essay by Bryan Caplan on the EconLib website.] It’s a totally natural human tendency to attempt to downplay the desirability of things we think we’ll have to work too hard to achieve. In fact, it’s such a common phenomenon that we have an expression for…

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163. Why Read TJ Klune

Posted on February 16, 2022February 15, 2022 by caritagardiner

I grabbed the photo above from TJ Klune’s Goodreads page (not his website). I love that both pages both show his photo with his dog…or perhaps a borrowed dog who’s quite cute and likes having its photo taken. Plus, check out the Santa-Saturn-stars-snowflakes-sword-unicorn sweater — awesome! If you’ve been reading my blog for more than…

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162. Why OMAH

Posted on February 9, 2022February 9, 2022 by caritagardiner

During our school’s spirit week, I wrote about why I love and hate spirit week. I don’t think I mentioned the all-time queen of “dress like a nerd” day, JWT. notice in the photo above the total commitment to her art — the fake teeth (she kept in all day, to go with her “Well,…

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161. Why Be Aspirational

Posted on February 2, 2022February 2, 2022 by caritagardiner

[I took the photo above from Contractor website.] Some people have said to me, in the comments on my blog and in person, how impressed they are with my thoughtful attention to the words I use or don’t use when I’m speaking. They’re assuming that because I’ve published an essay about how much I deplore…

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160. Why, a Poem

Posted on January 26, 2022January 26, 2022 by caritagardiner

I took the photo above. Someone taped the note to the inside of the bathroom stall door at my school. I’m going to assume that “Keep pushing through” is a generic message of encouragement rather than one meant for the specific action being taken while reading the note. Inspired by the photo and a recent…

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159. Why People Listened

Posted on January 19, 2022January 19, 2022 by caritagardiner

[I took the photo above from Britannica’s website.] If you’re reading this not too long after I post it and you live in the United States, you’ve probably recently had a Monday different from your usual work or school. Either you got the day off or you participated in activities designed to further the teachings…

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158. Why There’s No Path

Posted on January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by caritagardiner

[Screen shot of photo above comes from this website, where I think  you can buy the poster.] My school’s motto is, “Guided by each other, let us seek better paths.” I really like the part about guiding each other, but I’ve been less sure lately about the path-seeking part. Some people here talk about finding…

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WHAT I DO

I teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I read AP English Literature and Composition exams and serve as a teacher mentor for the University of Pennsylvania Teaching Fellows program. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU

Teach                    Tutor

Revise                   Edit

Entertain             Enlighten

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Contact Me

  • cgardine@hotchkiss.org

Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • 177. Why Pay Attention
  • 176. Why Keep Learning
  • 175. Why “Yes…And”
  • 174. Why Now
  • 173. Why I’m a Real Writer
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