A call for national standards ensures that we continue doing what is most wrong with our bureaucratic schools (establish-prescribe-measure) and that we persist in looking away from the largest cause of low student achievement: childhood poverty.

A call for national standards is a political veneer, a tragic waste of time and energy that would be better spent addressing real needs in the lives of children—safe homes, adequate and plentiful food, essential health care, and neighborhood schools that are not reflections of the neighborhoods where children live through no choice of their own.

Watch this space for more, very soon!

Flash forward to August, when another long-term position in that district was posted. This one is for the entire year. I called the principal, met with her, and landed the job. Gainful employment is once again mine!

I will be teaching 9th and 10th grade English, and I’m *very* excited about this opportunity. I get to teach Shakespeare! To Kill a Mockingbird! A hip graphic novel!

I’ll be slowly but surely making some updates around here, and writing about some of my educational experiences. This is my first *full year* position in one place, and it’s overwhelming and exciting all at once!

Look for more updates soon.

At any rate, it was a wonderful experience. My coworkers were kind and helpful. The administration and support staff were as well. And my students? Well, see for yourself. This is just a taste of what they did for me on my last day:

I am touched and honored beyond words. And while I’m sad that it has ended, I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything.

Whee!

We have both a challenge and an opportunity before us. We cannot continue to fail children because recruiting and retaining new teachers is too hard. The key is in the support — America doesn’t treat teaching like a profession.

-Mark Lampkin at Huffington Post

Items can be purchased in my Etsy shop!

Here’s a sampling of what you’ll see there:

With wedding season coming upon us, I just wanted to remind you of my custom-designed Calligraphy gifts.

More samples can be viewed here.

Here’s a comment from the satisfied recipient of the piece pictured above:

The photo does not even begin to do this piece justice. It is truly beautiful and Ben and I are honored to have it in our home. -Kelly Woods

Orders received before April 15 will receive a 10% discount!

My preferred lead time is at least three weeks before the wedding date. If you need a rush order, contact me and we’ll talk!

Click on the “Calligraphy” tab for more information.

In my travels, I came across a site called Best Essays, one of the many, many “buy an essay from us” sites out there. What I find both amusing and troubling is that they pledge that their essays are “plagiarism free!”

I suppose that’s sort of technically true. They’re promising students that they essay they’re purchasing is an original work and hasn’t been taken from somewhere else. Except that as soon as the student turns it in to their teacher, it’s plagiarized.

Sigh.

What they should be saying, I suppose, is “there’s no way your teacher will catch you!”

I’m depressed.