Geoff Sheehy

While a riot rages, I walk down the street muttering--mostly listing to myself things that give me joy. I am aware of the violence but try to ignore it. Sometimes a passerby overhears me and we share a smile. Then I continue through the chaos. This is Twitter.

Drove by a fire station and there were firemen in the parking lot. So many mustaches.

Fact: you never realize how disgustingly dirty your fridge is until you empty it.

Notes like this crack me up. Every couple years I get tagged because someone is upset with Sheehy Auto. Guess I'm glad I don't sell cars.

Eight months after releasing two new books, it is clear Cormac McCarthy is no longer one of the greatest living writers in America.

@belzpoems @flamingpetty btw, it occurred to me days later that "Home" is the book I loved best, not Housekeeping. I loved it so much I couldn't even remember the title. Very convincing recommendation, if you ask me.

@belzpoems @flamingpetty I can see that--I felt something similar with Lila, where its ideas felt like they were more primary than the story, so when I lost interest with the ideas, I lost interest with the book. But I don't recall that with Housekeeping. The narrator (a teacher!) struck me as real.

There’s a hemming and hawing in Marylinne Robinson’s GILEAD that I can’t quite enjoy. Is this quality present in her other novels? It’s like Wendell Berry wearing a 3-piece corduroy suit in the rain.

First line of student's essay: "All my life I've wondered the same thing: if I get bitten by an animal, do I gain the powers of said animal?" I imagine I'd enjoy teaching college students, but I don't see how I'd enjoy them more than high school students.

I had an exchange student from France this year and one thing that surprised her most about America was how we used the computer for everything in school. She's looking forward to writing by hand again when she returns to France!

I used to be gracious toward students with "smart but off" essays, because I was sure it was an honest mistake made by a person.

Here's the first way I'm accommodating my grading practices to the age of A.I. generated text: I am assigning failing grades to papers that don't truly do what I asked in the assignment. If it sounds smart but is off target, it's highly likely it's A.I.

Today is the last day of school for me this year. Thus ends my teaching on the block schedule (90-minute periods). It has been a good 18-year run, and I am convinced I am a better teacher for learning to teach in "the block."

I'm going to give away the secret to any good I do as a writing teacher in the second half of this tweet: I believe my students are interesting. Which means their writing can be interesting too.

When I ask students to submit a revised version of an essay, I open up the old version on one screen and the new one on another. Then I scan the ends of the paragraphs--if the last word lines up with the line above it the same in both copies, why bother reading the new version?

I highly recommend this essay, about the AP Eng. lang exam: "I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that this exam is indeed an accurate reflection of your college fate in that it was unreasonably expensive and completely useless for about half the students who take it."

I do not understand anyone who does not understand how the Celtics managed to lose Game 7 after coming back from 0-3. They were in fact the team that managed to go down 0-3, were they not?

Denver in no more than five.

Here's how it works with the Miami Heat: They beat you and you are ashamed and in your shame you feel a need to act, so you fire your head coach. Joe Mazzulla, you in trouble.

David's shocked because he apparently hasn't watched the Celtics much. This team is anxiety-inducing 100% of the time.