One of the great and lofty claims of the classical method of education is that it produces students who love learning. Yes, we as their educators hope they love to read excellent works of literature; we hope they are fascinated… Read More

I’ve known rivers. Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. American poet Langston Hughes wrote those words while riding a train across the Mississippi River. He was only seventeen. Today, we remember Langston Hughes as a… Read More

Part of what keeps me sane is that while life is linear, it is also cyclical. When the days grow short and dark, I know Christmas is near; and as the school year grows long–and uniform hemlines a little short–I… Read More

Middle school students rarely know what they want to do with their lives. Oh, they think they know, and they will tell you, quite emphatically, what they absolutely want to do. And next week they will give you a completely… Read More