By Toni M. Poling I don’t make personal resolutions at the beginning of each new year. This is mostly because I try not to lie to myself. In the past decade I’ve joined a gym. I’ve quit the gym. I joined a gym. I quit the gym. I joined a Read more…
Toni M. Poling I remember vividly the first time I put my head on my desk and cried during my lunch period. The bell to end fourth period and move to lunch had just rung and a student was lingering behind asking me questions that had nothing to do with Read more…
By: Toni M. Poling Recently I was thumbing through my social media (as one does when one is avoiding schoolwork) when I came across this stanza from Mary Oliver’s “Sometimes”: Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. I sat there staring at the screen Read more…
Me: “Today we are going to talk about poetry! Who’s excited?” Every class I’ve ever had: *crickets* I’m not sure about your students, but mine don’t love poetry. A few years ago, when we switched to the standards which shall not be named and our focus shifted to informational text, Read more…
Toni M. Poling, NBCT On the fifth day of school, as the bell chimed to signal the end of my last class of the day, a student looked at me from the back of the room with a surprised look on her face. “Is this class shorter than other classes?” Read more…