At the beginning of this school year, a story about a Texas elementary school teacher banning homework went viral. A whole wave of schools followed suit. Soon, teachers from Portland, Oregon to Farmington, Minnesota started sending kids home without nightly assignments. Hell, even an entire Massachusetts school district planning to do away with homework completely. It’s like they read that Shel Silverstein poem and took it literally.READ MORE: The Fatherly Guide to Homework flickr / Alan Wat What they did read were scores of articles and books claiming that homework has no academic benefit. But there’s really only one expert behind the articles: Dr. Harris Cooper. In the mid-80s, Cooper, a Professor Of Psychology at Duke University, reviewed nearly every study on homework to see if...
“These simple rules to live within—a black pen at night, a gold pen in daylight. . . . He crumples as paper but rises daily from the dead.” * Jim Harrison was in love with the world. He was a man of big appetites not only for good food and fine wines but also for tasting, smelling, hearing, feeling, and seeing what Nature, both human and wild, had to show him about living and dying and locating a sliver of light in so much darkness. Writing poems was Harrison’s spiritual practice—following that line of light—walking the path of poetry in crepuscular hours when wolves howl and ravens fly. His book of poems, Jim Harrison, is a pilgrimage through a dedicated life...
Chester E. Finn Jr.—or, as I’ve always known him, Checker—has been a force in American education for more than four decades. (Full disclosure: He’s also a longtime friend, collaborator, and mentor.) The longtime president of the Fordham Institute (now in an active/emeritus role), he’s served in the White House and the U.S. Department of Education, chaired the National Assessment Governing Board, co-chaired the Maryland state board of education, and done much else. He’s also penned influential books on topics ranging from school choice to gifted education. (My favorite, if you’re in the mood for a wonderful, wide-ranging yarn, is the autobiographical Troublemaker.) Given that many of the issues on which Checker has spent years observing, advising, and leading are front...
I start my weekday mornings in the dark, driving on Cedar Hill Road. And every morning I peer into that darkness, seeking those bike riders who wear dark clothes, flash no lights, and give me the responsibility for their life or death.
Their lack of reflective gear and bike lights is beyond my comprehension. How can these bike enthusiasts be so careless about their own safety? What I do know is that I don’t deserve the anguish of harming another person.
Jane Birkbeck
Saanich
Actores by Sylvain Magilaner González Self published in August 2019. A Book with Vegan Characters and included in my Vegan Book Blog How I got this book: Bought the ebook via Etsy My rating: 3 of 5 stars Sylvain's Etsy Shop Actores, l'amour sans souffrance animale Tome un Dans un futur proche, partez à l'aventure et découvrez un monde nouveau, où les animaux et les humains ont appris à vivre ensemble. Les animaux vont enfin pouvoir jouer leur vrai rôle, d'être des anges de l'amour. Actores est le premier livre de la collection : Les animaux sont nos amis. C'est une histoire tout public, dès l'âge de huit ans. Bientôt diponible en livre. Les animaux sont nos amis est un projet...
