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, 2020
- 10 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, 2020
- 3 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, 2020
- 3 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, 2020
- 2 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, 2020
- 3 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, 2020
- 3 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, 2020
- 2 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, 2020
- 5 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, 2020
- 4 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, 2020
- 4 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, 2019
- 6 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, 2019
- 2 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, 2019
- 2 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, 2019
- 4 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, 2019
- 2 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, 2019
- 2 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, 2019
- 3 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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