Author: Janet Ilko

I define myself as a writer because I am blessed to be surrounded by people who write. I seek writers in my life, both those with whom I can write with at local coffee shops each week, and those that are a digital community that inspires and pushes my work in new and better directions….

It has been six years today since I lost my dad. I couldn’t go to services last night to stand in remembrance because I was in the ER with my husband. He came down with a virus, and we spent a scary day in Urgent Care and then the Emergency Room trying to figure out…

I spent this week working on planning our first 9 weeks of school. I have learned through the years that creating a year-long plan is important but even more important is to take the first quarter to learn about the students in the room. I have key elements I need to cover this year, but…

The puppies have had quite a summer. We spent over half of July on the couch, and they have come into a napping routine most pups would envy. We normally are much more productive in the summer, but this instead has been a summer of physical healing for some of us (my daughter) and lots…

 This is my new writing space, a table in my backyard. The journal was a graduation gift, a place to start my writing again. It is interesting to come back to the blog space. I miss looking at my past posts. I am still pretty mad about losing all those words and images. I have…

 Summertime for educators, in general, is a time to get all the things done in other parts of your life that you put off during the school year. I like many educators filled my summer days with to do lists a mile long in order to use every moment I could during my “break”.We fill…

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The site Writing In My Hand was a space I occupied for over six years, and I discovered a few months ago that I lost my digital home. The. Entire. Space. All. Of. It. Note to self, when you have someone help you set up…