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. …

One has to imagine that the men who keep shooting innocent people think of themselves as brave. The Buffalo murderer even claimed to be defending a cause, placing himself on the dangerous front lines of a war he imagines coming. …

Teachers don’t do this by choice, but necessity — Whenever we have fire drills in school (and the Law says we must have them monthly) a student invariably asks me why we do it. It’s a reasonable question if you are ten years old. Ten year olds actually ask more reasonable questions than adults. Fire drills are loud, disruptive…

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. …

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…

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. …

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. …

What’s different is us, because Covid sent everyone to a different country, and we’ve returned to a place that hasn’t changed. — Anyone who moves knows that ‘home’ is never the same after you’ve left it for awhile. And often, what you accepted as ‘normal’ at home turns out to be anything but. To move is to step outside one’s circle. …