Life – Page 2 – Embrace the Absurd

For Every Taylor …

Above all else there is Taylor Swift. No one who has followed my blog is surprised by that opening sentence. But for every Taylor Swift there are hundreds, actually thousands, of others, incredibly talented performers who are not Taylor Swift. Some of them may even be better singers, songwriters, or dancers than Taylor; have aContinue reading “For Every Taylor …”

When Politics Was Local

I have to admit that I was a bit confused when I opened my absentee ballot this morning. As I scanned the list of candidates from both sides of the aisle on both sides of the ballot, contrary to what I have been told repeatedly these last several weeks, “Democracy” was not among them. DemocracyContinue reading “When Politics Was Local”

Reading Revisited

The Reading Wars are over. While most of us were lost in the chaos of the pandemic, the political circus of the last five years, and the endings and beginnings of real wars around the world, a victor in the long and often bitter Reading Wars emerged cloaked in the mantle of science – theContinue reading “Reading Revisited”

I Blog, Therefore I Am

We live in a world where the gap in time between having a thought and sharing it with the world has been all but eliminated. Case in point, this is the 200th post I have published since launching my blog in 2015, with 141 of those (70%) coming in the three years since my retirementContinue reading “I Blog, Therefore I Am”

Spare Change, State Tests and other Anachronisms

I emptied our spare change jar the other day. The actual “jar” itself has at times been an empty ricotta container or peanut butter jar. But for years it has sat in the same spot collecting the loose change from our pockets at the end of the day. It’s right there at the entrance toContinue reading “Spare Change, State Tests and other Anachronisms”

MCAS 2001 – Hindsight is 220

Last week, with relatively little fanfare, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to “raise MCAS graduation requirements” beginning with the Class of 2026 (i.e., students beginning high school this fall). Although the approved requirements do have the effect of “raising” the test-based graduation requirements as reported, what they actually do is alignContinue reading “MCAS 2001 – Hindsight is 220”

Public Schools – In Need of Serious Change

Back To School season is here! It’s one of the few special times of the year that marketers cannot overextend, although they have tried. We accept Halloween candy appearing in the aisles as soon as Christmas in July ends and non-stop Christmas movies and music beginning the week before Halloween, but nobody wants to seeContinue reading “Public Schools – In Need of Serious Change”

Teacher Man

“I didn’t call myself anything. I was more than a teacher. And less. In the high school classroom you are a drill sergeant, a rabbi, a shoulder to cry on, a disciplinarian, a singer, a low-level scholar, a clerk, a referee, a clown, a counselor, a dress-code enforcer, a conductor, an apologist, a philosopher, aContinue reading “Teacher Man”

10,000 Hours

The so-called “Ten-Thousand Hour Rule” became popularized after the 2008 publication of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success. By popularized, of course, I mean that the discussion of the relationship between success and 10,000 hours of preparation presented by Gladwell was simplified and bastardized so that it could be deliberately misapplied when presented toContinue reading “10,000 Hours”

July 4th – A Day to Take Stock

Growing up in Boston – the cradle of liberty, the birthplace of the American Revolution – the meaning of The Fourth of July was crystal clear. It was a day of celebration and remembrance, yes; but also, a day with an eye toward the future, a day to take stock of the three things mostContinue reading “July 4th – A Day to Take Stock”