"I was thinking, What if the world was like that? What if we only saw one surface of it, the outside, but there was all kinds of other stuff going on, too? All the time. Underneath. But we just don't see it, even if we're part of it? Even if we're in it? And what … Continue reading Out of Darkness
Author: Austin Hall
Close Encounters of the Teaching Kind
After 9+ months of teaching, the end of the school year always seems to come at the perfect time. The refreshing reprieve of summer is wonderful for many reasons: the absence of bells dictating where I have to be and when, the ability for lunch to extend beyond 25 minutes, ample time for leisure reading, … Continue reading Close Encounters of the Teaching Kind
The Road to Recovery
The first step in any twelve-step program is admitting that you have a problem. Nearly a year ago to the day, when I formally proposed my idea for Reading for Pleasure, I did just that. I came clean and acknowledged my role in contributing to readicide. In his marvelous book, Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and … Continue reading The Road to Recovery
On Leading and Reading
As a teacher leader, I would seem to have a lot of things going for me. I have a MA in English from UNI's TESS (Teaching English in Secondary Schools) program. I am the Department Chair of a sixteen-member English department and serve on a variety of other school committees ranging from leadership to technology … Continue reading On Leading and Reading
