Month: April 2026

The Ron Clark Academy: Reigniting the Fire in my Heart!

/ Nancy Ann Creed / Leave a comment

To start, I want to express what a wonderful experience this has been. It has truly revitalized my passion for education and reignited a fire in my heart.

GO REVEUR  (That is my house and the best house!) 

First Impressions: Energy and Environment

Upon entering the school, we were greeted by an incredible sight: students lined the hallways, waving warmly and offering a heartfelt welcome. Their remarkable poise was immediately evident; they looked us directly in the eye with firm handshakes, contributing to an atmosphere electrified by the staff’s palpable energy. It is clearly an environment where emotional support for both students and staff is a top priority—a transformative experience that I believe every educator should have the opportunity to witness firsthand.

We eventually made our way into the “heart” of the school: a grand rotunda where a student band performed at the front. The physical appearance of the facility—a former warehouse in downtown Atlanta—is simply breathtaking. At the top of the rotunda, an innovative LED display featured dragons flying overhead, culminating in one massive dragon that seemed to watch over us. While I often found myself standing in awe of the school’s aesthetic, that beauty becomes secondary once you enter the classrooms. The high-quality instruction taking place within those walls is more than enough to impress on its own.

Unity Through the House System

A cornerstone of this environment is the House System, which serves as a powerful tool for building unity and a deep sense of belonging. At RCA, this system is themed around multicultural connections and core values:

  • Rêveur (Dreamers)
  • Amistad (Friendship)
  • Isibindi (Courage)
  • Altruismo (Giving)

Students wear uniforms that proudly incorporate their specific house colors into their polo shirts, a practice that fosters camaraderie and combats isolation. Implementing a similar system at our school would be a wonderful way to inject energy, excitement, and a renewed sense of purpose into our daily campus life.

The Pedagogy of Sacrifice

The most profound takeaway was witnessing their pedagogical brilliance firsthand; they are easily the most exceptional educators I have ever encountered. While the depth of their individual relationships with students is something that matures over time, the testimonies from the staff demonstrate a selfless level of dedication and time invested in every child.

Reflecting on a sentiment shared by Ron Clark, he noted that his success as a friend, son, and husband is intrinsically linked to his relentless pursuit of excellence as a teacher. This admission struck a deeply personal chord, prompting a period of intense introspection. I found myself questioning if I am prepared to potentially sacrifice aspects of my life as a mother and wife in the pursuit of becoming a “better” teacher, or if it is truly possible to achieve a sustainable balance.

While I am deeply inspired and have no desire to leave the classroom for an administrative role, Ron Clark’s reflections on the time sacrificed to reach this level of impact give me pause. This experience has given me a renewed vision for how I want my school to be, while also forcing me to consider the emotional toll such a commitment requires.

Strategic Discipline: The Board

Even the disciplinary practices at RCA are executed with strategic intent. For example, the practice of placing a student’s name on the board is designed to minimize disruption. The board is positioned at the very back of the room, often using a black whiteboard with subtle ink. This ensures the board is accessible to the teacher but remains discreet, preventing the public shaming often associated with traditional displays.

A key component is the “no-look” rule. If other students turn around to see whose name is being written, they must also put their own names on the board. Because the board is located behind the students, they would have to physically turn away from the lesson to see it. This strict requirement ensures the focus remains entirely on the instruction at the front of the room. By keeping the discipline “offline” and away from the primary line of sight, the teacher manages behavior effectively without allowing it to become a spectacle.

Check it out: https://www.ronclarkacademy.com

More Works by Nancy Ann Creed

https://books2read.com/links/ubl/m25Ygd

Finding My Voice Amidst Rejection in the Writing World

/ Nancy Ann Creed / Leave a comment
close up of fountain pen writing on paper
Photo by seymasungr on Pexels.com

I am at a crossroads, and for the first time in a decade, I am unsure of the way forward. I have dedicated myself to the craft of storytelling with a persistence that should have borne fruit by now, yet despite my efforts, the “breakthrough” remains elusive.

My journey began in the days of CreateSpace, eventually transitioning into Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). However, that transition led to a devastating setback. In an attempt to protect my professional reputation as an educator from a third-party publisher’s threats, I updated my metadata and pen name. Amazon flagged these changes as a violation of their guidelines and terminated my account on July 6, 2025. Despite a year of formal appeals and my commitment to publish exclusively as Nancy Ann Creed, the decision remains firm. After a decade of building a presence there, I am forced to accept that it may be time to let that platform go.

The pursuit of traditional representation has been equally exhausting. I have queried numerous agents for my fantasy series, The Shadow Realm Chronicles, my memoir, Birth After Miscarriage, and my poetry collection, Echoes and Whispers. The result has been hundreds of rejections and a haunting silence. The industry is notoriously risk-averse toward previously published material—especially work tied to a terminated account—leaving me caught in a professional limbo.

I recently moved my catalog to Draft2Digital, and while the platform is functional, it hasn’t yet bridged the gap between my dreams and my reality. For ten years, I’ve told anyone who asks that I’m “just waiting for my books to take off.” I find myself wondering if that moment will ever arrive.

The frustration is compounded by a marketing conundrum that feels like a foreign language. While I am confident in my writing and production skills, the world of SEO, platform-building, and social media engagement is a constant hurdle. I had hoped a traditional agent would shift this burden to a marketing department; instead, I am left to navigate it alone. Even high-effort attempts, like engaging on TikTok, have resulted in views but zero sales.

Despite the exhaustion of teaching 7th-grade math and raising a large family, I continue to explore new avenues. I’ve launched Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee to share “unpolished” drafts and short stories, hoping to find a community that appreciates the raw creative process. My primary motivation has never been purely financial—it is the desire for readers to lose themselves in the worlds I’ve built. Yet, I cannot ignore the financial reality: revenue would allow me to hire the professional editors and designers my work deserves.

Currently, I am struggling to find my creative spark. My goal of 3,000 words per week—tracked via Pacemaker—has become a source of guilt rather than motivation. Every time I fall behind the schedule, it deepens my exhaustion. I have poured my soul into six volumes of The Shadow Realm Chronicles, subjecting them to years of revision until every word gleamed. To meet that effort with soul-crushing silence is a heavy burden to carry. Some days, the temptation to retire my keyboard feels almost irresistible.

I am a teacher by day, but in my soul, I am an author. I am simply waiting for the world to hear my voice.

More Works by Nancy Ann Creed

https://nancyanncreed.com/2026/04/18/etched-upon-my-heart/
https://nancyanncreed.com/2026/04/18/why-i-deleted-my-goodreads-challenge/

https://books2read.com/u/m25Ygd

Etched Upon My Heart 

/ Nancy Ann Creed / 1 Comment
Large tree with extensive sprawling roots in a green forest at sunrise

Etched Upon My Heart

The world was wide and waiting
The day you took your start,
And every step you’ve taken since
Is etched upon my heart.

I’ve watched the boy of wonder
Turn to a man of grace,
With courage in your steady hands
And kindness in your face.

It isn’t just the things you’ve done,
The trophies on the shelf,
But the quiet way you choose to act
When you are just yourself.

Through every doubt and shadow,
Through every climb and fall,
You’ve found the strength to stand back up—
The greatest feat of all.

I look at you and see the best
Of everything I know,
And feel a pride so deep and vast
It has no place to go.

So keep your eyes upon the sun,
Keep honest, brave, and true;
There is no greater joy I own
Than simply knowing you.

More Works by Nancy Ann Creed

https://books2read.com/u/m25Ygd

Why I Deleted My Goodreads Challenge

/ Nancy Ann Creed / 5 Comments

For a long time, I participated in the Goodreads book challenge, a digital ritual where you commit to a specific number of books to read over the course of a year. Initially, it seemed like a harmless way to track my progress and stay motivated. However, over time, the experience transformed from a rewarding hobby into something that felt more like a demanding second job. Instead of finding solace in the pages of a new story, I started feeling an underlying sense of anxiety every time I looked at my progress bar. The quantitative tracker, meant to encourage, began to exert an unhealthy pressure, making me feel that my value as a reader was tied strictly to my output rather than my engagement with the material.

The Numbers Trap 

I used to use Goodreads’ book challenge where you set a goal for yourself for how many books you will read that year. One year I was planning on writing a middle grade book so I read a lot of popular and award winning middle school writers. These books were not long, so I read a lot that year, even manga, and I easily surpassed my goal by reading over 100 titles.

The thrill of that triple-digit achievement set a high bar, making me feel successful as a reader and a writer. However, the following year shifted focus significantly. I delved into epic fantasy novels, including The Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, and rereads of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Because these books are considerably longer and denser, my total book count naturally dropped. Despite the depth of the stories, the visual progress bar on Goodreads moved slower, triggering a deep sense of anxiety and a “what-if” mindset about my productivity. I found myself constantly checking my goal, feeling bad because I wasn’t on track to beat my previous year’s record. It felt as though the numbers were starting to matter more than the narratives themselves.

The Weight of the Epics

The following year, my reading habits underwent a significant transformation as I delved deep into the realm of epic fantasy. I immersed myself in sprawling series like The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones), and took the time to revisit the foundations of the genre by rereading The Hobbit and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.

While I remain committed to my goal of writing middle grade novels, I took to heart the common wisdom that becoming a better writer requires being an omnivorous reader. However, I quickly discovered that fantasy epics demand a much higher time investment than middle grade books. For perspective, Stephen King’s The Stand exceeds 900 pages, and The Eye of the World—the first volume of The Wheel of Time—runs nearly 800 pages.

Because these massive volumes are considerably longer than the books I read previously, the quantity of titles I completed naturally decreased. This discrepancy triggered my anxiety; I felt a mounting pressure to read more, yet there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to maintain my former pace. I found myself constantly checking my reading goal and feeling a sense of failure because I wasn’t on track to surpass my record from the previous year. This shift in reading material forced me to realize that a simple book count was no longer a fair or accurate reflection of my intellectual engagement or my progress as a growing writer.

The Breaking Point

The pressure finally reached a breaking point when I had to be honest with myself about the profound anxiety these metrics were causing. Reading is meant to be a sanctuary and a source of inspiration, but the Goodreads tracker began to feel like a demanding boss, constantly reminding me how far behind schedule I was in my own personal life. When a beloved hobby starts feeling like an obligation or a race you are destined to lose, it strips away the magic of the narratives and the joy of discovery.

I realized that every automated notification informing me I was “five books behind” felt like a personal failure, a stinging critique of my productivity rather than a reflection of the reality of my reading life. In truth, that “slowness” was actually a sign of deep engagement with complex, lengthy epics—massive volumes like Stephen King’s The Stand, which exceeds 900 pages, or The Eye of the World, which runs nearly 800. By letting a simple number dictate my success, I was ignoring the growth and craftsmanship I was absorbing from these sprawling masterpieces.

The Contentment of “Goal-Free” Reading

Ultimately, I realized that the numbers were hindering my connection to literature, so I deleted my reading goal entirely. This simple act felt incredibly freeing, lifting a weight I hadn’t fully acknowledged until it was gone. I still value the community aspects of the platform, so I continue to use Goodreads to share my current reads with friends and maintain my own professional page as a writer, but without the shadow of a quantitative tracker.

My advice is to never let reading transform into a chore or a second job; it is a hobby meant to be savored and enjoyed on your own terms. Instead of chasing metrics, focus on the qualitative benefits: read alongside friends, engage in deep discussions about books, and simply have fun. By removing the pressure of the progress bar, you allow yourself the mental space to truly learn and grow through the stories you encounter.

 

More Works by Nancy Ann Creed

https://books2read.com/u/m25Ygd

Courage in Chaos: Overcoming Anxiety Daily

/ Nancy Ann Creed / Leave a comment
Worn vintage suitcase with travel stickers placed on wooden floor in hallway

The walls are leaning inward, though the level says they’re straight,
And the air feels thick and heavy, like a physical, dull weight.
It’s a static in the marrow, it’s a ringing in the ears,
A list of “what-ifs” blooming into catastrophic fears.
The door feels like a mountain, and the phone a jagged stone,
The mind builds up a prison that it’s crafted all alone.

But the kettle starts its humming, and the clock begins to chime,
The world doesn’t pause its spinning just to give me extra time.
So I breathe a shallow rhythm, count the floorboards near my feet,
And find the tiny pocket where the fear and duty meet.
It isn’t that the shaking stops or shadows go away,
It’s the shaking hands that reach out to begin the work of day.

I carry it like luggage—bulky, frayed, and overfilled,
Across the bridge of “must-do,” where the panic isn’t stilled.
I take a single, trembling step, then find the strength for two,
Doing all the things I need, while the fear is coming through.
For courage isn’t silence where the anxious thoughts are gone,
It’s the shivering soul that tells itself: regardless, carry on.

More Works by Nancy Ann Creed

https://books2read.com/u/3LMnON

Twilight’s Simple Litany

/ Nancy Ann Creed / Leave a comment

A poem from the book Echoes and Whispers

books2read.com/u/bO0zDK

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