Ms. Taylor Says

I'm normal looking. I'm of average attractiveness. I think it says something about modern society that I feel the need to qualify that statement, that identifying yourself as average is seen as either saying something negative about yourself or is seen as a violation of the girl code that says you are to think you are hideous and wait for someone to disagree. Evidence below: Math was never my strongest subject, but being in the middle seems to be not that bad. And if I'm honest, it took me a while to even believe that I was average. As I'm sure many women have said before me, seeing only the most beautiful people on television, in movies, and in magazines, it took me a really long time to look around and realize that most people on most days don't look like that. And that's when I realized I was normal. These opening paragraphs might seem to be the start of an empowerment piece about how, once I felt like I fit in, I no longer felt self conscious about my...

I think I'm probably not an unusual American when I say that I am horrified and terrified by what's going on in my country. And I think I'm even more horrified by how I've adapted to it. When Trump so heartlessly responded to the devastation in Puerto Rico, I wasn't even surprised. And while I was angry and fearful for the people in Puerto Rico, I didn't even know what to do. It seemed...dare I say it...normal. There is one thing I feel comfortable saying at this point. Trump's work in this country is evil. My quick Google search says that evil is defined as "profoundly immoral or malevolent" and I have no problem saying that his current actions and policies fit that definition. I also am now comfortable saying that there is no way to support him while claiming to expect Christian values from government leaders. But I say that with a heavy heart, not meant to condemn. I say that knowing that I often am inactive in response to his actions. I see p...

So, my students will not come to school on Wednesday because so many teachers have scheduled to be off. This may seem like a victory of some kind, but all I can think is that those who will feel this the most have nothing to do with the reason for the protest. Here are some things I thought about as I read the email informing me that I wouldn't see students on Wednesday: 1. If a student currently is on the Free and Reduced Lunch plan, that student will not receive school breakfast or lunch that day. 2. If a parent of a student is not employed in a situation that provides sick days or vacation days, the parent will have to lose a day of pay in order to stay home with his/her child or pay someone to watch his/her child or leave the child alone. There may be a family member that can watch the child, but maybe not. 3. High school juniors are now about a week and a half away from a test they must pass in order to graduate from high school. Those students will now go a week without...

It's been way too long since I've been on here, but a few weeks ago, while crying in church, I felt like I had something I wanted to say. Here's the truth. The last few years have been rough, and I can't even really tell you why. It feels like the emotional equivalent of walking pneumonia or a low grade fever. I wouldn't say it was/is depression because I don't want to flippantly use that word. But I've just been kind of "in it" off and on for the last few years. I don't say that for anything other than context. This hasn't been a debilitating kind of thing, just a struggle that comes and goes, and one of those things that seems to require me to just kind of keep going while I wrestle with not feeling like my usual self. And yes, I thought through visiting with the wonderful counselor I worked with several years ago. And I prayed thoughtfully about what might be the source of this struggle. I am not a trained professional, so I would neve...

Maybe I'm a weird teacher--that is totally possible.  But for me, I have 3 or 4 teacher selves.  There's "Beginning of the School Year" me, full of ideas and delusions about how much time these ideas will take to implement, there is "Middle of the School Year" me, optimistic that there is still plenty of time in the year to do all I dream of--but kind of in need of a nap, and then there is "End of School" me.  This last one comes to the surface as the sun starts to set later and later.  In the final weeks of school, as all of the "lasts" occur, the summer hovers over me like a helicopter parent on the first day of kindergarten, constantly reminding me of it's glorious and long-awaited arrival. Everywhere I turn, I am reminded of all the productive and artistic things I can, and will, do once summer starts: that pile of books on my nightstand and the emails announcing fresh fruit at the local orchard remind me how artsy and outdoorsy...

"Ms. Taylor hates Robin Thicke.  And Miley Cyrus."  These were the words my students busted out with when Matt Wertz (an awesome singer/songwriter who graciously visited our class last week) gave them a quizzical look after an off-handed comment about Thicke.  I didn't really deny it.  I don't hate them as people per se.  I more hate what I see their messages doing to my kids.   Between my classes, the writing center, and coaching, I talk to hundreds of kids every year, and the more time I spend with them, the more they become my kids--the cause of my worry, the audience for my unsolicited advice, the people I am cheering for as they decide what it means to be a good human--an adult.  And the longer I teach,  the more vocal I become about messages from pop culture that concern me. And when I see my students absorbing lies about their value or place in society, I begin to panic a bit.  I fear they are buying in to a dangerous understanding o...

This week of spring break has truly been a break.  And I love that spring break is always Holy Week.  It, most of the time, gives me a chance to move slower through Christ's last week.  On Tuesday a friend and I took her precious daughter over to one of our favorite pizza places.  As we chatted about the Supreme Court, I made faces at the baby, and we devoured delicious food, the baby chomped on some pita bread.  After we had finished eating, we were sitting around.  The baby girl is in the stage in which she grabs whatever is around.  She grabbed a paper napkin and did what all babies do--she tried to eat it.  As my friend and I laughed about it, my friend made a good point.  "It can't taste good.  You would think she would stop doing that."  I thought, "Yeah!  I know."  I then told my friend one of my favorite stories from picking strawberries last year.  A mom had brought her 18-month-old son to the berry...