Day 5: Gratitude Post My semester officially begins today, so here goes! 1) My job. I am fortunate to start a new position as a lecturer in URI’s Honors Program where I’ll be teaching classes in English literature and writing and advising freshmen. I have a posh new office space with lots of light. This semester I’ll be focused on URI’s Common Reading selection, The Last Lecture. 2) Good teachers. Over the years, I’ve had good and bad teachers and then a few amazing folks who have shown me the way I want to treat my students. Beginning with my second grade teacher, Miss Quinn, who went to Italy and brought all 35 of her students glass animals from Venice (I still own the glass blue dog she gave to me), I consider myself fortunate. So thanks to my high school Spanish teacher Ms. Muñoz, who told us that poverty was not always obvious and oftentimes those who suffered the most put on the happiest of faces, and terrific professors like James-Henry Holland, Rynetta Davis, Sharon Lubkemann Allen, and Austin Busch, who taught me what good pedagogy looks and feels like. Austin took me on as his first graduate advisee and is an amazing example of how to be involved in a student’s scholarship while allowing her to develop her ideas. I will never forget when he returned my first draft of my introduction and said, “You have great ideas here. I can see the places you want to go.” And then he handed back the thirteen pages and I think (or it felt like) only two lines were NOT crossed out. I use this example with my writing students all the time to let them know—no one is perfect, and no one is perfect on the first draft. Lastly, my tai chi teachers Maggie Newman, Ben Lo, and Wolfe Lowenthal, especially, continue to inspire me with their examples of being in the present moment. 3) Mentors. There are many people who have helped me to stay still and be myself, but most recently Edi Giunta, Mary Saracino, and Meta Ribowsky have been inspirations and guideposts. Okay, now it’s time to nominate some great teachers to take on the gratitude challenge: Janet Billings, Paul Turtola, and John Farrell--folks from my time at Hofstra University who Im pleased to know took up the teaching track!!!!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 13:06:51 +0000
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