This blog post shares a career discernment practice: K-W-L, a way of mapping what you already know, want to know, and need to learn. Career discernment coaching involves, among many things, listening to and learning from fears, uncertainties, and the many unknowns involved in making change. Sometimes what’s needed is recognizing fear—allowing it to speak, be witnessed, and given a right-sized role. Other times, what’s needed is a way to list and begin to answer ... Read more ...
learning
Building an Ecology of Readers
Writers need readers. A full ecology of readers.Not just one type of reader.Not just one other person.But many interested readers.Readers waiting for drafts.Readers wanting to read more.Readers with curious questions.Readers who can say, "no, it's not working, yet…”Readers who affirm, "Yes, more of this!"Readers who remind us what matters.Readers who keep us going when it's hard.Because writing can be hard for many reasons.Truly, writers need readers. A few ... Read more ...
Professional Loss, Complicated Grief, and Responding to the Dissolution of CCCC
On Friday, July 27th, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) announced the dechartering of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), the primary professional association for writing studies. Within a swift two-day period, this 77-year-old association was dissolved, and it has felt like a significant loss within ongoing attacks on and dismantling of higher education. There are many efforts underway toward strategizing and rebuilding a ... Read more ...
20 Reading Recommendations for Career Discernment
Recently I joined my library's summer reading challenge. I have been inspired by and enjoying the wide-ranging challenges, which not only span genres and activities but also stretch me in surprising ways. Examples include "read an author with your initials," "send your local library a postcard," and "visit special collections and look up a newspaper article from the day you were born."In the midst of this summer reading challenge, I am imagining a "career discernment ... Read more ...
Bear Ways: A Commitment Statement in Poem Form
Earlier in June, after months of intense revision, I finally updated my commitment statement. It was a long time coming, as I returned to southern Appalachia and newly to Asheville—Cherokee Land in Western North Carolina (WNC)—back in 2024, ten weeks before Hurricane Helene hit. My writing has been coming slower since the move partly because of recovery and healing from the storm. Partly because of the time involved in putting down roots, building community, and ... Read more ...
Writing Process Support: Supporting Postdoctoral Fellows as Writers
As writers, we need support not only for our products—what we are creating—but also for our processes—the how, when, where, who, and why of writing.This spring, Candace Epps-Robertson (of Full Circle Writing) and I have been offering a program that addresses these fuller needs and offers writing process support to postdoctoral fellows at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Briana Mohan, Program Director in Research Education & Training, invited us ... Read more ...
Notes from the Early Days of Bereavement
After several months in hospice care, my mom passed on March 25th, and life rearranged itself once again. I write in these early days of bereavement to share initial reflections and enormous gratitude. I am so appreciative for many forms of support not only in these past few weeks but also (and especially) in the intense months before mom’s passing and in these times when everyday and systemic violence necessitate many forms of protection, nurturance, and guidance. ... Read more ...
Q&A with Pam Jones, Ph.D.: Butterflies, Kaleidoscopes, and Monsteras. Together, Educators Are Dreaming a New World.
Pam Jones, Ph.D. is someone I want you to know. Pam is a compassionate, visionary, and infinitely wise voice in the world of education. Since we've been working together, I've learned so much about intergenerational literacies and imaginative world-building. Pam teaches and inspires me (and so many of us) and holds such hope for what’s possible in striving toward liberation and justice. And now, thankfully, she’s offering to hold space and work one-on-one, with small ... Read more ...
Forum Theatre: Using Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to Build Receptive Competence
This post shares a reprint of a lesson plan “Forum Theatre: Using Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to Build Receptive Competence” co-authored by Beth Godbee and Rasha Diab. In 2015, Beth Berilla assembled and published the website Contemplative Practices for Anti-Oppression Education, and we were not only grateful to be part of the collection but also regularly turned to and shared contemplative practices from the collection. Unfortunately, the website is no longer ... Read more ...
Q&A with Sarah Gettel: Consultant, Operations Support, and Capacity Coach for Heart-Head-Hands
I am excited to introduce Sarah Gettel, a good friend and accountability partner who’s been working behind the scenes with Heart-Head-Hands: Everyday Living for Justice. Sarah and I met in 2019, soon after I’d left my faculty career, through mutual contacts engaged in racial justice organizing in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We deepened our relationship in the early days of the pandemic, forming an accountability pod and meeting regularly with Rasha Diab ... Read more ...
