Bookshelf: Yearnings
Rabbi Irwin Kula's book Yearnings has been on our bookshelf for approximately forever. I TOTALLY judge a book by its cover and this one...
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Jenny Runkel
May 27, 202010 min
History, Teachers, and Titles
Pretty much every good thing I know about writing I learned by writing for one man, in one class. He absolutely changed the course of my...
Jenny Runkel
Apr 4, 20203 min
Defying Gravity
I have spent a few days distancing myself from social media. It’s been revelatory, to say the least. Here are the things I’m learning...
Jenny Runkel
Mar 24, 20203 min
Ramona Forever
This week has been one of the hardest weeks of our collective lives. So much uncertainty, so much restlessness, so little to do. And...
Jenny Runkel
Mar 23, 20202 min
Cookie Monster
I'm convinced that social media is the chocolate chip cookie of connection. Once I start, I stop only with great difficulty and I always...
Jenny Runkel
Mar 20, 20203 min
A Poet's Call
I spent almost half of my life teaching high school English. I retired last year and up until about a week ago, when people asked me if I...
Jenny Runkel
Mar 18, 20203 min
Back in Time
Parents, I’m here with a message from the future. One day, sooner than you can possibly imagine, your child will have lives of their own...
Jenny Runkel
Mar 11, 20202 min
Write Now
If your household is anything like mine, you are having some pretty serious conversations and concerns over the state of affairs we are...
Jenny Runkel
Feb 21, 20205 min
The Magic Soup
I spent years in the classroom helping students appreciate the creative fruits of artists and express themselves with clarity and...
Jenny Runkel
Feb 8, 20204 min
The BS of “Bloom Where You’re Planted”
For Mother’s Day several years ago, my children bought me two small fig trees. It was an amazingly sweet gesture. It wasn’t a secret that...
Jenny Runkel
Jan 18, 20204 min
The Cutest Boy in the Neighborhood
My dad worked his way up the ranks of a petroleum company in the oil boom of the 1970s and 80s by selling “mud”, the fluid used in...
Jenny Runkel
Dec 20, 20196 min
Because Sharing Your Story Matters
On the way to the vet yesterday, Bentley the wondernugget and I hit shuffle and Vampire Weekend’s “Harmony Hall” came on. “…Now we find...
Jenny Runkel
Dec 8, 20192 min
Do It Now.
Paul McCartney is one of several people who just inspire the hell out of me. He is not only musically brilliant, but he's so freaking...
Jenny Runkel
Nov 20, 20192 min
Writing Tip Wednesday: Own your story...all of it
More often than you might think, I work with students who feel ashamed of something on their transcript or school record. This may be a...
Jenny Runkel
Nov 17, 20194 min
Social Media is a Mean Girl
You either knew the mean girl in middle school or you were her. Unfortunate, but true. Everyone, even her closest friends found...
Jenny Runkel
Nov 13, 20192 min
"So....What Should I Write About?"
It’s the question I get from many of my high school students as they face the personal essay and the pressure that accompanies it. That...
Jenny Runkel
Nov 4, 20192 min
What Google Maps and Your Essay Have in Common
Google Maps is a modern miracle in the palm of your hand. Except for when you’re walking in the heart of a city and you’re in a hurry....
Jenny Runkel
Aug 1, 20193 min
Rememborating and other made-up things
Summer in Lafayette, La. 1978. I was 6 and 3/4 years old. My friends had Kiss lunch boxes and Grease records. I was allowed neither. In...
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