Really interesting differences….I hadn’t thought about the memoirs in this way, especially about the different purposes. 🙂

Hi Eduardo,
So glad that my teaching memoir spoke to you and that you are inspired to continue the good fight in Florida. As Leslie has written, it’s not an easy place to be a teacher these days although, of course, you are not alone and others in your cohort have also had to figure out how to be human beings in their classrooms when parents and…[Read more]

Bridgett, You wrote, ” …and for the public to see us as such, we need to embrace that professionalism. One way to do that is to conduct research and to write about it. Teachers should be publishing what they see, what they observe, what they learn, and what they know. Which leaves me with the question: what will my research question/project…[Read more]

Yes, these ideas go to the heart of the issue. Thanks for pausing to think about this. Til soon…

Yes, these ideas go to the heart of the issue. Thanks for pausing to think about this. Til soon…

Beautiful, Barb. Thanks for capturing words and images and giving them new relevance.

Beautiful, Barb. Thanks for capturing words and images and giving them new relevance.

I agree with all of you that the time we are living in right now is so full of polarization and fear that ‘speaking truth to power; is becoming very risky. I hope our coming together as a community can help provide the strength and courage required to take the risks. Til soon….

Dear Momodou and Bridgett,
So looking forward to living these ideas together in about 10 days. Amazing at last.

Hi Mary, It was definitely a challenging time for me but all the soul-searching and probing has led to growth and lifelong friendships. Working in Austria truly changed the trajectory of my career and we probably would not be meeting in NYC as a TOLI group if I hadn’t started that inquiry so long ago. Looking forward to meeting you soon.

Hi Mary, It was definitely a challenging time for me but all the soul-searching and probing has led to growth and lifelong friendships. Working in Austria truly changed the trajectory of my career and we probably would not be meeting in NYC as a TOLI group if I hadn’t started that inquiry so long ago. Looking forward to meeting you soon.

Hi Misty, Thanks for your honest and probing response. German heritage brings many different perspectives into play as is clear from Nora Krug’s graphic memoir. I want to reassure you that the writing we will do will not be hard or onerous. 🙂
Til soon.

Hi Misty, Thanks for your honest and probing response. German heritage brings many different perspectives into play as is clear from Nora Krug’s graphic memoir. I want to reassure you that the writing we will do will not be hard or onerous. 🙂
Til soon.

Thanks for your response, Heather, and for sharing the relevance of OAS with others. It means a great deal to me. See you soon!

Hi Leslie,
So glad you revisited OAS. I agree that it has resonances with “Caste” — an amazing book. Looking forward to discussing soon when we meet in person.

Thanks for rereading OAS and for your careful and thoughtful response, Sandy. I agree that turning from the wrongs perpetrated on American soil is not unlike the Austrians who want to bury their history. As we know, it can only fester. Looking forward to meeting soon in person.

Thanks for reading and rereading OAS, Eileen. I just returned from my first trip since the pandemic. My partner and I went, not surprisingly, to Innsbruck to spend 10 days with Margret and Gert. A true friendship grew out of that seminar in 1996 and continues til today, something I could not have predicted then and am grateful for today.

Thanks, Maya, for writing so openly and honestly about what it means to be a person of color in this country and how class assignments can so easily obscure racist attitudes. I also appreciate that you used ‘my story’ — in a different context and location — to open up and share a bit of your own. Being othered is always painful. Much more to…[Read more]