"Whether or not you write well, write bravely." -Bill Stout
Emily C. Holmes
I am a mother of boys. I am a teacher of teens. I am a student of them all.
Teaching and learning is the stuff of life. We do these things every day -- through lessons good, bad and ugly. The trick is to make the journey relevant and the destination worth the effort.
My journey through my own education has been an interesting one -- the proverbial "bumpy ride," I suppose. I dropped out of high school. Yep. Sure did. I graduated from Adult and Continuing Education (and right on time, by the by... the importance of education was a core family value. Thanks, Mom), started college courses at Lansing Community College, transferred to Michigan State University, earned my BA in English and Theater, and came back to MSU to earn my Master's in Education.
I teach where I have lived my life and where I have learned my lessons: Lansing, MI. I started out as a middle school drama teacher, and if I can do that, I can do anything. I now teach 11th grade World Literature Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, and International Baccalaureate English Language Year 2 at Lansing Eastern High School, within sight of Michigan's Capitol. I am English Department Chair. I do a lot, which gives me many teaching experiences, but even more opportunities to learn.
I love to write. I love to read. I work hard to inspire that love of writing and reading in my students. Writing is powerful because you have the chance to revise and edit -- deciding ultimately on the words which posses the nuances and subtleties that are right, whether they be loving or abrasive, gentle or lacerating. Writing gives us the power to express and manipulate. It is influential and mighty. It opens doors, minds and hearts.
Playing and singing are necessary parts of me as well. I am silly.
I play and teach and laugh and write and read and sing. There you go.
"The other day I was playing Scrabble. I saw that I could close the space in D-E- -Y. I had an N and an F. Which do you think I chose? What was the word I made?"
-- Amy Hempel Tumble Home
Teaching and learning is the stuff of life. We do these things every day -- through lessons good, bad and ugly. The trick is to make the journey relevant and the destination worth the effort.
My journey through my own education has been an interesting one -- the proverbial "bumpy ride," I suppose. I dropped out of high school. Yep. Sure did. I graduated from Adult and Continuing Education (and right on time, by the by... the importance of education was a core family value. Thanks, Mom), started college courses at Lansing Community College, transferred to Michigan State University, earned my BA in English and Theater, and came back to MSU to earn my Master's in Education.
I teach where I have lived my life and where I have learned my lessons: Lansing, MI. I started out as a middle school drama teacher, and if I can do that, I can do anything. I now teach 11th grade World Literature Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, and International Baccalaureate English Language Year 2 at Lansing Eastern High School, within sight of Michigan's Capitol. I am English Department Chair. I do a lot, which gives me many teaching experiences, but even more opportunities to learn.
I love to write. I love to read. I work hard to inspire that love of writing and reading in my students. Writing is powerful because you have the chance to revise and edit -- deciding ultimately on the words which posses the nuances and subtleties that are right, whether they be loving or abrasive, gentle or lacerating. Writing gives us the power to express and manipulate. It is influential and mighty. It opens doors, minds and hearts.
Playing and singing are necessary parts of me as well. I am silly.
I play and teach and laugh and write and read and sing. There you go.
"The other day I was playing Scrabble. I saw that I could close the space in D-E- -Y. I had an N and an F. Which do you think I chose? What was the word I made?"
-- Amy Hempel Tumble Home