Comments on: Twisted Logic

By: Jessica Brogley

Jessica Brogley — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:47:28 +0000

Holy cats Dawn, this reminds me of my day today. I came home and unloaded on my husband at the dinner table – tears and all. My 2 year old daughter looked at me and said, “Mommy, no cry.” My mind whirls some days, today being one of them. I really struggle not letting my work take over my life and my mind sometimes. I think of an email a friend sent me today reminding me to remember that there could be worse things going on in my life (she’s a recent cancer survivor).

By: mskranzusch

mskranzusch — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:53:12 +0000

Dawn,
Thank you for responding to my post. It is so great to hear from you. I continually check on you as well, although sometimes the life of a teacher overwhelms, and I find myself behind on relationships. I read this post on your Polliwog, and couldn’t help but think about how fitting it was – I’m teaching Greek mythology and The Odyssey for the first time, with not a lot of background knowledge myself, so life beyond planning is stretched thin.
I admire your honesty in front of the junior class. When reading about them, it reminds me that no matter how great a teacher you are, sometimes their motivation is out of our hands. You can’t change everyone. At best you can give them the skills to survive and, just like you did, inform them very honestly that not reinventing themselves would be a disservice to the world. Quite possibly some of them not only listened to you, but truly heard you and will consider listening more.
Remembering to refresh as my post said isn’t always easy – if you don’t, though, it is more difficult to find our place in life (referring to your Twisted Logic post – a song I may borrow for my lower-level writing class).
Tracy

By: Ryan Bretag

Ryan Bretag — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:32:12 +0000

Thanks Dawn for this post. I continue to struggle with “life” and what I want and what it means to think outside of “I”.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:45:24 +0000

Thanks for commiserating, Bill. Of course, one day is not just like the next, and we are granted reprieves from the tedious endlessness of assignments and grades. : )

See you in New York!

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:07:39 +0000

I’m right there with you Dawn. I struggle constantly with trying to balance life and work. My old department chair always said that “we should work to live, not live to work.” That’s always stuck with me.

Anyway, I’ll see you at NCTE. I get to go again. Yippeee..