A Kohn that Hits Home

I'm looking at a blog called Yellow Songbird and feeling very underwhelmed by my small attempt here in the blogosphere.  I wonder why everything I write or try to enter has to be in the center section and I can't put anything along the sides?  I wonder if my entries are too long and/or sentimental.  I wonder if one has to know the people in them to really appreciate the stories.

I find truth truly stranger than fiction and the real difficulty with writing about it is that it is so strange as to be barely believable.  All those crying mothers at conferences, carrying on about their seventeen year old sons who won't talk to them anymore, they are so cliche...until one sits across from them and have to construct a response.  At least they are cliche enough that one can polish an answer until it gets to be respectable and a little comforting.

I read a wonderful article by Alfie Kohn today that summarizes my feelings about the "Education Crisis."   I heard Alfie Kohn speak 15 or so years ago, and I was a little disenchanted when I followed up with his book No Contest.  Sure, a less competitive atmosphere would be healthier, but he didn't seem very grounded in my reality.  The world sure is competitive.  He seemed very Ivory Tower, this fellow.  It didn't matter how well-reasoned his arguments; they couldn't argue with rural Minnesota.  In any case, as I read his article today, and the embedded article by Maja Wilson, all my frustration with easy answers and labels and formulas and benchmarks and general lack of faith in education are explained.  I really don't think my union is that great but I do think it's necessary and I know it's not the problem.  If you have doubts, please take a moment to read one of these articles with an open mind.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alfie-kohn/operation-discourage-brig_b_777148.html

Finally, I'm putting out a call for topics.  What did you always want to know about your teacher, behind-the-scenes in a school or the profession in general?  If you could be a fly on the wall, what would you ask?  Since I am writing anonymously, the sky is really the limit.