Scenes from the Chemistry Lab

D and I often experiment in the chemistry lab together. I have a student teacher right now, so I have the luxury of pulling out my most egregious troublemakers (like D) to give them my full attention. The chemistry lab is usually unoccupied, and right across the hall from my classroom, so that’s where exiles retreat to. […]

Playing God

I’m fond of the concept of “playing God” as presented in The Cider House Rules. It’s a novel with a good old-fashioned modernist directive: someone is going to play God, someone is going to wield terrifying power like a gun or a doctor’s kit, and maybe, since you’re a reasonable person, that person ought to be […]

The Balance of Power

Today I was asked to sub for a Shakespeare class. The kids were supposed to watch “10 Things I Hate About You,” which meant I could sit and do whatever the hell I wanted while they were entertained. That’s a good way to earn twenty bucks. I was happily checking my email and reading “Catcher […]

I Used To Feel So Uninspired

Barack Obama makes me feel like a natural woman. Especially this morning. I’ve been preaching for years that education funding should not be locally funded. If our goal in education is to equalize opportunity, it makes no sense to let poor kids in poor areas go to poorly funded schools and rich kids in rich […]