Author Archives: Tanya B

Last week I was at a meeting where a friend announced to the group that she had just retired from her job at the state department of education. Over lunch I overheard her answering the requisite  “What’s next?” question.  She said, … Continue reading →

Dear Reader, Today is the fifth day of June, and the last blog posted to this account was in February. February?!? Arrrggghh. I have been feeling so stuck these last few months, it has seemed there was nothing to write. … Continue reading →

Mom is at work this weekend in Louisville, KY. Here with 36 teachers from the Literacy in the Common Core Initiative of the NWP, we are reading and writing about the Common Core, learning about PARCC and Smarter Balanced Assessment … Continue reading →

It’s One Art, the art of losing, Elizabeth Bishop tells us, that “isn’t hard to master.” I feel like I have entered 2013 practicing it to great success. I mean look at me. It’s the third week of January without a … Continue reading →

Today marks the twentieth time I’ve helped the Handsome Canadian Husband (HCH) celebrate his birthday.  (Seriously, how is the possible?). Given that this is (always) a visiting staff week at the NWP, and eight days before we leave for our holiday … Continue reading →

In case you think the holiday season is all love and kindness here at momisatwork, here’s a post about one of my pet peeves that becomes especially profound during the holidays. Although this post was written on a plane, dear … Continue reading →

“Classroom Q&A with Larry Ferlazzo” is running a series with edubloggers responding to the question: What advice can you give to help teachers be more effective in helping students become better writers? Momisatwork — in my role as director of … Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Welcome to my favorite holiday. 4 days off, sanctioned to do nothing but cook, eat, be with the people you love, and to be thankful for all that you have. Of course, as you know if you … Continue reading →

There are a lot of ways to move through the world. Mostly, I walk. I walk the dog, I walk to work, I walk, thank God, with my friend Barbara. I don’t much dance or run or hop or skip … Continue reading →

Tonight my house is strangely quiet. While my heart would prefer wailing and gnashing of teeth, at our house we mourn like the stoic New Englander and ever-polite Canadian we are. Tonight our house is strangely quiet. James Izumizaki is … Continue reading →