It’s difficult to predict how, but the influence and popularity of The Boy Who Lived and Hogwarts among educators cannot be overstated. — We know a little about what happens when one book gets read by millions of people. A novel called The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, painted such a horrible picture of factory working conditions in the ’30s that federal agencies were created to right the wrongs. …

But the accused, the teacher, is innocent. — There’s a boy in my class who struggles with reading. He’s several grade-levels lower than he should be at his age. And it’s my fault, because I, his teacher, am the one responsible for teaching him to read. He is entitled to this skill; he deserves it. It is a…

It’s not much of an observation to note that schools are communities. Nor is it very insightful to observe that within the larger community of neighborhood, town, state, or nation, schools play an essential role in prosperity, security, and stability. …

Because why would an institution dedicated to teaching others be capable of learning anything at all? — In every school across the country, significant numbers of children are not meeting the learning standards their states have set for them. Graduating seniors are missing huge chunks of expected content and skill, according to every newspaper and magazine to report on it. Within classrooms, the situation is even more…

White men have dominated our literature and history for thousands of years, but they are finally being replaced. We’re moving from a ‘whitewashed’ history to a color washed one. Will it be successful? — I was in 4th or 5th grade when I was taught less-idealistic versions of history. I wasn’t much interested in history at 10, but the lessons went deep because they held deliciously negative emotions: betrayal, injustice, hypocrisy, deceit. …

I’ve been getting shots pretty much since I was born, half a century ago. Add some years in 3rd world countries and my vaccine passport has multiple editions. Measles/Mumps, Tetanus, Polio, Hepatitis, Rubella, Chickenpox. Rabies shots once, and a Tuberculosis vaccine because my grandfather lost a lung to it. …

My wife’s father died slowly but on his own terms. He’d retired to a big house in a gated community in the North Carolina mountains, a half hour’s drive down twisty roads to town, where he spent every afternoon with a circle of friends at coffee shops. He was the…

There is no easy digging on the island of my wife’s childhood. Inches below the topsoil it’s alluvial coral, bleached white and bouldery. You want a grave, even for a body reduced to five pounds of ashes, to be dark and easy. …

It doesn’t. America is at a strange stalemate. — On Covid: Half of America refuses the antidote to a virus the other half of America understands might kill them. It’s clear that anti-vaxxers cannot be convinced otherwise. There will be no great awakening or sudden change of reason and they will continue to resist until their last breath. There’s…