My Anger with Chicago Public Schools Cancellations 2022

I work for Chicago Public Schools but am part of a union called SEUI. It is different than Chicago Teachers' Union since I am not certified as a teacher but rather work as a Special Education Classroom Assistant III (long story..future blog) Still, an important job as I work with my colleagues to support diverse learners and also contribute in other functions at my school such as lunch and recess supervision, after school tutoring, mentorship, etc.

Covid cases have been multiplying at schools across the district since winter break and I agreed that we should go remote for a couple of weeks to give families a chance to get tested and vaccinated. Too many of my colleagues were getting sick as well as students and we already had a sub shortage moving into the new year.

I have been so disappointed and angry to see the politics playing out-- I thought I was agreeing to remote learning for a little while-- not cancelling school altogether. I am VERY ANGRY that this was not thought through and negotiated prior to break and the egos clashing is causing children in my school whom I care greatly about and children across the city whom I care greatly about to be suffering.

More to come....

Photo by kyo azuma on Unsplash

Comments

Honoring Zora Neale Hurston: African-American Writer and Anthropologist

One of my favorite books of all time is, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Zora's novel follows the quest of her heroine, Janie Crawford, and is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance. Today, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Junior who was clearly a strong and heroic leader. But I also want to celebrate authors and artists such as a Zora Neale Hurston who also contributed to a better understanding of what being African-American is like. What being human and struggling is like. More can be found here: https://www.biography.com/writer/zora-neale-hurston Photograph: Courtesy of Photographer Van Vechten, Carl (1880-1964)

The Writing Process: How much of your story is true?

October 12, 2025 Dear Readers, I wanted to share about my writing process in these next few posts before I return to sharing books I am interested in and think you will be interested in. A lot of times, I am asked, "How much of this is true..." I think many beginning writers do write about experiences they have literally had-- that actually existed and is more thinly cloaked as fiction. As a professional writer , this question is more complicated to answer since more of my writing now (fiction that is) is not so much about me but perhaps a person I met at one point who inspired a character, or some theme that I myself have been grappling with or a subject such as Arab immigration that I experienced but retold in a way that was different than what I actually experienced. So if you are an emerging writer as well as reader, feel free to write about literal experiences. Just be careful not to write about someone in explicit detail without their permission....

Read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with author Dina S. Rabadi

Dear Readers, There are lots of holidays being celebrated around the world. In America, one of the classic movies is, A Christmas Carol. Photo by Phil Robson on Unsplash The movie and its various versions are based on the book of the same title by Charles Dickens. Please go ahead and pick up the book from your local public library or order it in time for us to read and discuss this month. Abebooks.com is a great source for inexpensive books. I do not receive a commission from the stores I recommend. It is important to also support our local bookstores. Here is a link to some independent bookstores in Indianapolis. Independent Bookstores Indianapolis Each Sunday, I will publish a post. Next week's post will be information about the author, the following week a dive into theme and characters, the next week will be historical context and then an intro to our January read. As always, please post questions or comments here about this month's read. H...

Reading with Dina

Search This Blog