180: Writing

A typical school year has 180 days. The number is also significant in its representation of change. This is a place to dialogue about education, writing and change.

[khamadeh]

Is it Fall Yet?

Are you spending your summer at the It’s Okay to Cry Corral with Daria and Mr. O’Neil?

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[khamadeh]

Happy June

Is it okay for a teacher to post this? Happy June!

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[khamadeh]

Freshman Dorm: Masterpiece or Trash?

It was 1991, and we were the 5th-grade girls in Mrs. Shaw’s 5th/6th-grade classroom. We were in a gifted and talented program, the kind of classrooms popular in the 1980s and 90s where the supposed best and brightest were corralled into a classroom and pushed in all things creative and academic. We were smart girls. We got good grades. We did our work.But I also think we had a bit of a reputation…

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[khamadeh]

The Writing Process

The current process…There’s so much that I want to write, but when you’re missing someone you lost, the winter months are the longest. A very good friend once sent me the song “Long December”on a particularly rough day, and I always listen to it knowing that yes, the next few weeks will be hard, but just like that first rough year, I’ll get through it.So when the words won’t come, I push out 250…

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[khamadeh]

Today’s quote

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[khamadeh]

Book quotes

Sometimes we all need a little reminder from Emma Woodhouse.

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[khamadeh]

Exile in Guyville

“There are a lot of mediocre men out there.”  This is what I said to a former student who is now a co-worker when discussing some of the interesting men we have encountered in the education world, particularly some of those in leadership.  I quickly countered my statement with of course, there are mediocre women in education too, and while I don’t always agree with everything he does, I respect…

Exile in Guyville

[khamadeh]

We’ll Always Have Summer v. Season 3

This summer, determined to read the book before the series, I read We’ll Always Have Summer, the third and final book in the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and the basis for season three. I am also caught up with the series so far, and my thoughts about the two are taking over my brain, so I have to put them here to get them out.  We’ll Always Have Summer is the weakest of the three books. In…

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[khamadeh]

We’ll Always Have Summer v. Season 3

This summer, determined to read the book before the series, I read We’ll Always Have Summer, the third and final book in the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and the basis for season three. I am also caught up with the series so far, and my thoughts about the two are taking over my brain, so I have to put them here to get them out.  We’ll Always Have Summer is the weakest of the three books. In…

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[khamadeh]

From coast to coast, and around the world ...

I was eight years old, surrounded by Barbies and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. I sat on the floor of my grandparents’ living room on a warm summer night as a familiar sound played through the television speakers.  “From coast to coast, and around the world, it’s time to Praise the Lord.” 10:00 pm. Time for Praise the Lord, the flagship show on the Trinity Broadcast Network. Paul Crouch, the…

[khamadeh]

Make it Work!

Happy birthday to the fabulous Tim Gunn!My older daughter loves Project Runway, and I told her, you know, Christian Siriano was once a Project Runway contestant and he won. She immediately wanted to watch his season and we finished season 4 last night. And a young Tim Gunn fan was made!I always love how he showed compassion for the designers and asked questions to make them think critically about…

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[khamadeh]

Ode to Billy Joel

Once upon a time, this boy I knew took the lyrics from Billy Joel song “Only the Good Die Young” and changed the words about Virginia the Catholic Girl to better fit Katherine the Assembly of God girl, and he and his friends would sing it on school bus trips or in the last five  minutes of class when work was done. I would roll my eyes and quietly think to myself, he doesn’t even know that…

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[khamadeh]

TBT: Babysitters on Board (Baby-Sitters Club, Super Special #1)

A cruise ship. The Bahamas. Disney. Extremely detailed descriptions of Claudia Kishi’s elaborate outfits.   Ann M. Martin. The woman knew how to sell books to 1980s tweens.   I cannot forget how excited my friends and I were when this book came out. Before websites and YouTube channels dedicated to following every detail of a topic, the girls of our 3rd grade class learned of this book (whose…

[khamadeh]

Don’t Stop Believing-download today!

Super excited to announce the publication of my young adult novel, Don’t Stop Believing, available for Kindle download on Amazon. Available in paperback soon. Don’t Stop Believing is the story of Mara Gordon, the daughter of a small town Pentecostal minister, trying to graduate high school in 1997. Mara’s world is turned upside down when she and her best friend Ben stumble upon a secret…

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[khamadeh]

Nikki Giovanni

Celebrating one of my favorite poets. This is from her poem, “ego tripping (there may be a reason why)”

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[khamadeh]

Happy birthday, Langston Hughes

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