Hello. I’m so glad you decided to stop by and check out my new blog. For the past nine years I’ve had two blogs, one about teaching and one about whatever else I wanted to talk about. When I first started the personal blog, it felt like such a huge step! I was going to be writing about what I was thinking for the whole world to read. It felt especially daring because the first post was about being plus-sized, and how hard it was to buy cute clothes. I felt like my secret was out. Now everyone would know that I needed to buy those sizes. The joke was on me though. First, anyone who had ever seen me already knew that and second, nobody ever read the post. for a while it was an online journal, super private despite it’s public availability. The irony of the fact that its2008. address was “casimira,” which means “almost seen” in Spanish completely evaded me.
I started the teaching blog to share lesson ideas and to share my impressions of a trip I made to a TESOL conference back in 2008. Eventually it became a reflective place where I could tell stories about my students and my classroom, and the joys and struggles I faced there.
So, here I am, starting something new. This past June I retired from 25 years of teaching middle and high school English learners. I have nothing more to add to that blog, because, well, everyone knows that the minute you step out of the classroom your credibility as a teacher begins to fade. Plus I no longer have students to write funny or touching or sad stories about. So I’ve written my swan song there.
The other blog, as much as I love it, I haven’t touched in a year. A year. Since I’m starting a whole new chapter of my life, I decided lit was time for a fresh new site. I decided on the title, “Awake and Aware” because that is what I am and plan to continue to be. So here I am. Here we are. I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s see where this goes.
Awake and Aware 