Badasstra: I shouldn't be king

The rhythm of the world is not the rhythm of the heart. The heart does not break its beats into pieces, slicing its day into bite-sized ...

As the actions of the Trump administration become increasingly disturbing, I'm put in mind of three categories of voters and their roles...

I've dreamed my whole life of running for elected office. In late-November 2016, when discussing the possibility of making this dream ...

Whenever I feel exasperated about my inability to control others' actions, I remind myself that the need for control is a fear-based res...

The screenshot above is a conversation I had recently on Twitter. It began with an article posted by NPR reporter Renee Montagne discussi...

*Excerpted from the final personal reflection required of my MSE/Licensure program I learned to read at 4 years old, skipped the 2nd g...

I was just interrupted in my pursuit of homework, hoop-jumping, and lesson-planning by the loud whooping of young children in my front yard....

I have a particular way I do most things. I get a little bit of insight to something, then I think and fold and sift and knead and tu...

When I consider the Christian doctrine of God's grace for our sinful nature, I consider the state of this world. I find I believe that ...

Butterfinger candy bars taste like middle school to me. Specifically, they taste like middle school spring: that time when you can feel that...

It really does get easier the second time you do something. Not easier...better. I'm still often exhausted, and there isn't enough...

I'm 36. This fall I feel a little bit like the grown up. I've had kids for 13 years. Sorry kids. At the same time, my greatest suc...

I enjoy myself most when I can be very present in a moment. I enjoy myself most when I sit down with a child and teach them something. I...

I just finished my first quarter teaching. It looked like this. 1st Quarter Data: 1.5 12oz bottles of hand sanitizer 54 pencils ...

Teaching middle school, I feel myself wrestling with middle school feelings that I didn't really know about before. I really believed t...

Tonight I'm wondering about the sweet spot between depth and efficiency. So much to learn, so many to teach at one time. In a learnin...

Dear Megan, Meditate on all you've done. Take a breath. Get through this moment. You can do anything. Meditate on all you've d...

The part of teacher evolution I'm thinking about today, as I prepare to walk in to my first set of P/T conferences, is spatial ownership...

Hm. Had a sub for the first time Friday. Monday was no big deal. First parent-teacher conferences tomorrow. I'm a little nervous. ...

What's new? It will be August of 2014 before I am consistently doing things that are not "firsts." I have a very supportiv...

There are so many things I'd go back three weeks and do differently. Not just because I see how they'd be better, but because I'...

1. Don't use wet-erase spray to clean your dry-erase board. It makes a gunky mess. 2. There is no reason that 8th grade girls roll thei...

Today was good. I gave my first test. Classroom management was decent. Being observant and clear-minded makes a big difference. So does ...

Yesterday (Friday) was too much. Parents asking to have their kids taken out of my class, students who just wouldn't quit talking, more ...

One of the things that keeps me from blogging regularly is having too much to say. I let three or four commentaries ruminate in my brain and...

The question of whether I COULD be ready for work or not by the time the kids go to school is easy. I could. But I usually don't. I am ...

When Megan and I were dating, I would often ridicule her insistence on adhering to Anne Frank's quote, " Despite everything, I beli...

Sometimes I think, "It's weird to be everyone's friend, and no one's best friend." Then I have a week (maybe even just...

It's been almost a year since I've posted here. I'm trying to decipher whether both of my blogs send notifications to the same g...

Something occurred to me this morning, and I've shared it with almost everyone I've seen, so I'd just as well put it down here. ...

I was able to overcome the damage that Spanish class and (what I believe to be) a less-than-stellar professor did to my undergraduate record...

I tried to watch Gangs of New York tonight. Couldn't do it. This is entertainment? We think it's a good story? Children watching me...

Last week, as is not unusual for this time of year, there was a well-defined thunderstorm line immediately to the west, which we were drivin...

True story: As I sat in a parking lot in Wichita on Saturday, waiting for Megan to come out of the Dollar General we'd stopped at to get...

Not What It Used To Be Toby Tyner All Rights Reserved Sittin' in a lawn chair Wastin' my time Sippin' on a cold beer That was br...

There is something satisfyingly corporeal about hitting someone. Football players know what I am talking about. It's inherently kinaesth...

I don't really know what to do or say about the realization I had this evening. I was redoing the sheets on Lennon's bed, mattress ...

Let's just all try to use the word "proclivity" a little more often.

A thought just occurred to me about my nature: I have always been quick to fall in love. Eager even. Certainly always willing. That dispo...

...but Rob Thomas and his bandmates got me through some of my darkest days. Unbridled passion. I felt it, he gets it. I still feel it, he...

I can't say why the river flows Where it goes, I guess everybody knows You can't say what's been on my mind Whatever it is I thi...

I never look longingly back at the way it used to be. I am lucky enough to say that every period of my adult life has been an improvement o...

I am blessed with friends. Blessed. And I should be thankful. I wonder if losing sight of that thankfulness, replacing it with entitlemen...

Mornings. What mysterious variances they are. What things they say to and about each of us when they arrive. You were up too late. You did...

That is the opening line of The Beatles' "A Day In the Life," John Lennon's evocation of despair and hopelessness in a wor...

As I think back, more people have shaken their heads than nodded them when they discover that I prefer baths over showers (assuming I'm ...

I know that I learned growing up that grudges are important, and are to be held. I think grudges and relationship "scorekeeping" ...

What does it look like, a revolution that overthrows and kills corruption without killing people? King, Carmichael, and Malcom X were all at...

I love music. It's the one thing that's always been important in my life. Right now I have this lyric from Gordon Lightfoot stuck i...

I'd like to further explore (but probably not very deep) a concept I introduced in my last blog. Skilled and unskilled. I've discove...

This is a photo of the last house I lived in with my parents. I visited a friend this spring, but he wasn't home, and I found myself si...

Winfield was great, after this almost killed John and me: We continued to build depth in our village, most of which is at Winfield with us, ...

I had two moments today that have changed the way I see the world. This morning, Maggie, as 10 as the day is long, donned a pair of baggy de...

Will there be no one to mourn me, on the day of my demise? No enemy to scorn me? No legacy to revise? 'Cause many were chosen but few ev...

I found America, bleeding and dying In an old dusty well by the side of the road. Where lawyers and bankers'd tied on old rusty anchors ...

Without violence there is no pacifism, there is only peace. Pacifism is the active seeking of peace in the face of violence. Pacifism and pe...

The Road - Toby Tyner As you roll out on that highway tonight If you should stray far from your path Fear not my soul if you should wrestle ...