It was Caleb's idea that we should start meeting outside, and he mentioned how warm (yeah, right) it was going to be today. So I prepped for class with this in mind, and printed off copies of material I would otherwise have projected in the classroom (should we note an eco-cost here? paper vs. projection?); I came to class assuming that we'd be going out-of-doors.  I did like the sense of space, of openness once we got outside, though I also noticed all the mud (yuck!), and the resistance of the chairs to being dragged through it. The atmosphere in class seemed friendly and inviting--I think we were glad to be together again. I wasn't prepared for the wind, however, and am writing now feeling very tired from shouting for 1 1/2 hours. I also feel chilled...

This is the poem that I left at Anne's site sit but I guess it never reached her. It really inspired me to begin writing poems again...expect a follow up poem at your site sit sometime in the next couple of weeks, Anne! So here is an online posting: "Somewhere I Have Never Traveled, Gladly Beyond" by E.E. Cummings

I couldn’t help but thinking whether or not a white racial autobiography could be written. Are there not enough or no limits to the culture of “whiteness” after someone’s skin tone has been accepted in society?

            Who is the audience when talking about racial issues? Who should be educated? Who is listening? Who is talking/writing?

            I thought it was interesting that when the author spoke with her mother, the writer’s mother could only remember events where the author’s mother questioned/ spoke up/ challenged racism. I don’t know if we suppress what we are ashamed of completely.

"Based on these initial impressions, Union City readily passed my 'Golden Rule' test - I'd be happy if my own child went to school there." (10)

In Improbable Scholars, the author describes how Alina Bossbally pushes her immigrant students to become fluent in Spanish, their native language, and acheive literacy in that language before she lets them begin writing entirely in English:

"These kids are here to stay; and, one way or another, they will help to define our future." (Kirp 16)

Karp's section on teacher seniority and how they are reluctant to adapt to new teaching methods struck me while I was reading particularly because of my high school experience. 

In my Catholic high school, there were many teachers that had been there for a rather long amount of time. First there was Mr. O, who retired my senior year, he had taught at my high school for 50 years; one would expect him to have a set teaching method considering the fact that he taught the same courses every year: geometry and Latin. Mr. O however managed to defy the odds. He was constantly listening to coworker criticism and actively adapting to his class evaluations so that he could successfully help his students understand the material. This was quite the opposite from what Karp described.

"Voters and taxpayers...do sense that things are changing, and many of them dislike what they see. 'why should we be paying for the education of their children?' they ask, sotto voce, and so they gow reluctant to underwrite public education with their tax dollars."