A Literary Life

By Kate Jonuska

In September of 1998, language-arts teacher Diana Skoog collapsed in her classroom at Air Academy High School, the victim of a severe stroke. Over the course of a 10-year recovery, she’s rebuilt much of the skills and knowledge wiped out of the right hemisphere of her brain by the stroke, though due to left-side paralysis, she’s still wheelchair-bound.

Yet this month, after more than two years of work, the 15-year teaching veteran is proud to reconnect with the classroom with her newly published first book, “Tips & Techniques for First Time Teachers.”

“I got the idea shortly after I got home from the hospital. I got a call from a couple friends who just started the teaching profession asking, ‘What do I do?’” Skoog explains. She describes the book as a one-stop shop for a new teacher, a book that compiles information gathered from first-hand experience and continuing education classes, and including topics such as handling underachievement, speedy and efficient grading, and getting acquainted with your students to form a solid connection.

“I’ve loved writing every since high school. I always wanted to published, but never though that I could, especially after this happened,” says Skoog. “I discovered after this happened that writing was the ability I still had when all the others were gone.”
With her unique history and personality, Skoog’s tenacity and passion for education shine through her first work of authorship, which she had to overcome certain physical obstacles to produce.

“The main one, the first one, is organization skills,” she says, explaining that the damaged right hemisphere includes problem-solving and organization skills. “The second is typing, because I only have one hand that’s usable. One hand hunt-and-peck typing can be quite humorous.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the May 22, 2009 Woodmen Edition.