I had planned on writing a series of reminders to the president elect: that we didn’t elect him so much as the ideals he gave us courage to hope for; that he must now face the future with humility, fear and trembling; that his power is not his own, but belongs to the people he [...]

I really don’t understand why national election days aren’t also national holidays. It seems to me that, if we really want a democracy that considers the voice of every person, we should make it easier for every person to vote. At least for national elections. It took me about an hour, but some of my [...]

I don’t know how anyone can listen to Obama’s campaign platform and not agree with the goals and principles he expresses or not feel the swell of pride and hope, despite the cynicism.
More than anything, as I’ve said before, he seems to be a man who embraces balance and cooperation, who is studied, thoughtful, and [...]

I got an email the other day that contained the content of this post. In the post, the author creates an analogy that’s supposed to explain the problem with Obama’s "spread the wealth around" statement to the now (in)famous Joe the Plumber. Take a minute to read the analogy before you continue …
Here’s my response:
The [...]

While I work on revising this site, here are a couple of videos in support of Barack Obama. The first is an inspiring music video from MC Yogi, the second is a well-reasoned and powerful argument from General Colin Powell.

Pornography is in the news, and the classroom, again:
The Prince George’s County school system is investigating an incident in which a fifth-grade music class at Glenn Dale Elementary School caught a glimpse of a pornographic movie instead of the planned feature, “Star Wars.”
Glitch Gives Kids a Peek at Pornography - washingtonpost.com
From the little revealed in [...]

TMAO brought my attention to these prepared remarks of California Democratic Congressman George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. TMAO quotes this line:
Even with all of these changes, we will not meet our national goal of closing the achievement gap until and unless we close the teacher quality gap.
While I strongly [...]

From Boing Boing:
These student presentations are better than anything I’ve seen from “real” news agencies and could serve as a model for the future of interactive/online journalism.
Boing Boing: Students produce the future of newsgathering
Interesting stuff from students at the college level. Could serve as great models for secondary students (or younger?), and provide some [...]

A recent report from the Center on Education Policy suggests that students are improving on state reading and math tests. More than that:
the achievement gap between black and white students is shrinking in many states and … the pace of student gains increased after the law was enacted - Scores Up Since ‘No Child’ [...]

An article in The Washington Post discusses the current struggles of Allison Stokke with her unwanted internet popularity. The 18-year-old high school athlete has seen her pictures posted and re-posted, often accompanied with lewd commentary. Though nothing illegal has occurred (yet), her case still raises concerns about privacy. She’s apparently stalked online [...]