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We were treated to an absolutely gorgeous chilly weekend here in Central Illinois. So gorgeous, in fact, that I actually allowed myself to indulge in the delusion that true fall weather was actually here. Naturally, after a beautiful few days, we're returning to the 90 degree range this weekend.  Basically every area of the US has their own version of this meme (hence the noticeable edit on the top text), but it feels apropos now. I was so happy to have False Fall after a particularly rough Hell's Front Porch. Here's to hoping that Second Summer is a short one.  I at least didn't waste the False Fall we got! We opened the windows to let in the chilly air, wrapped ourselves in cozy blankets, drank lots of tea, and got some much-needed cat snuggles. I even got to make some of my favorite fall recipes. Last night, we had creamy garlic chicken over orecchiette pasta, and tonight I'm making an italian sausage and vegetable soup. It's still not quite time for the pot ...

Last week, I started my sixteenth semester of teaching college-level writing. I think typing out that sentence actually made me have a small heart attack.   Sometimes I feel like I'm still a brand new teacher. Part of that is because I have always been learning as I go: I taught my first class in the first year of my Master's program, which I entered straight into from my undergrad degree. There was no "real world experience" that prepared me for teaching that class. We got a week-long orientation before teaching, and then that first semester we got a Composition Pedagogy course. It was truly out of the frying pan and into the fire. Since then, I got one more pedagogy class in my Doctoral program. I didn't have the comprehensive pedagogy education that K-12 teachers have, so there's always an element of feeling like there's SO much I don't know about teaching.  I think the bigger reason why I still feel like a newbie is the fact that the context for te...