There is something fetid and rotten in our culture that cannot abide virtuous icons like Atticus or my grandmother. We turn our heroes into anti-heroes. We deny their nobility and valor, claiming that we are making them more “complex” or more “real.” What we actually mean is that we have given up on the possibility of true virtue and integrity Continue reading
Dear Colleagues, Friends, and Fellow Teachers: Please do not take arguments like this one too seriously. They remind me of the classical Greek arguments against the dangers of literacy, that teaching people to read and write would impair their ability to memorize things. Forcing students to take notes in a… Continue reading
John-Francis graduates from High School tomorrow. Even though I’ve been reminded of this reality every day for weeks, it still seems highly unlikely since, only yesterday, I was dropping him off at The Galloway School for his first day of kindergarten. I remember how he matter-of-factly climbed out of his carseat and… Continue reading
Dear People Who Do Not Live In The Deep South: Dealing with roads covered in ICE, in a city where there are almost no trucks for salting/sanding/de-icing and where almost no one has AWD, snow tires, chains, or vehicles equipped for sub-freezing temperatures is NOT the same as what you… Continue reading
I think, perhaps, I tend to over-think the purchasing process. I generally research something compulsively (a hat, a messenger bag, a bicycle) until I find something that is sufficiently over-engineered that it not only exceeds my needs but will last me a very long time. I then continue to use it… Continue reading