Tag Archives: story

Why can’t we do this more often?

Posted on February 23, 2016 by jyourist

Since the beginning of the school year last fall, every other week, on Tuesdays, my advisory teams up with a class of kindergarteners. The 8th graders become older mentors to the little kids, become their “buddies.” We have gone for … Continue reading →

Posted in acting, story, students | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The everyday as large as the sacred

Posted on May 12, 2015 by jyourist

Syd Lieberman died today. We already miss his immense heart and compassionate humanity, his inspired ability to make the everyday as large as the sacred through every story he told. Genuine and truthful and loving, he was able to move us all … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, story, truth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“A Story Can Change Your Life” by Peter Everwine

Posted on January 30, 2014 by jyourist

On the morning she became a young widow, my grandmother, startled by a sudden shadow, looked up from her work to see a hawk turn her prized rooster into a cloud of feathers. That same moment, halfway around the world … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, story | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

“Fictional Characters” by Danusha Lameris

Posted on January 21, 2014 by jyourist

Do they ever want to escape? Climb out of the white pages and enter our world? Holden Caulfield slipping in the movie theater to catch the two o’clock Anna Karenina sitting in a diner, reading the paper as the waitress … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, story | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Prometheus’ gift of fire

Posted on August 18, 2012 by jyourist

Last night we had some friends over for Shabbat dinner, friends we have had for a very long time. There were delicious hors d’oeuvres (red pepper hummus and apples), a roast chicken with all the vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, … Continue reading →

Posted in story | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

How stories become

Posted on May 15, 2012 by jyourist

We have just begun To Kill a Mockingbird and for 30 minutes in my morning class today we shared stories about all the Boo Radleys in our lives, neighbors and their weirdnesses (real or perceived) with whom we were/are endlessly … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, school, story, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Oceans of stories

Posted on October 10, 2011 by jyourist

While we were reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I asked my students to create a box of their own Ocean of Stories, a self-portrait box filled with stories that have helped them to become who they are. (In … Continue reading →

Posted in school, story, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Not enough time to hear all they had to say

Posted on September 16, 2011 by jyourist

On Fridays we have extended advisory where we usually have breakfast brought by a different advisee. Due to my forgetfulness, we forgot to assign someone for this morning so we all decided to potluck it. As we sat around the … Continue reading →

Posted in school, story, Teaching | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Expanding our front porches…

Posted on May 25, 2011 by jyourist

My father told me when I was young that his mother, born in the Ukraine, used to tell stories every day. All the women in the neighborhood would gather on her front porch in the afternoons as she wove a … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, animation, conversation, family, memoir, short films, story, videos | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wouldn’t the aliens’ interactions reflect our own?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by jyourist

This morning in our presentations of personal narratives, TR enthusiastically shared a story about falling off a bike. The story had lots of specifics and was quite engaging though its topic was somewhat generic. Students were focused and energetically responded … Continue reading →

Posted in reading, school, story, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments