Cracking my knuckles and settling in...

Journaling has always been a struggle for me. For that matter, doing anything habitually is a struggle for me. Sometimes I forget to feed my cat...

In the spirit of reincarnating the Journal as something I might be able to maintain, this blog will serve as a new space for laying down my thoughts. In it, I will reflect on my teaching practice, my experiences as a graduate student, and my thinking about anything related to schools and schooling. Perhaps pretending there's an audience out there to read and respond might make journaling feel more like a conversation, which is the missing element of a traditional paper-and-pen journal that always turned me off.

Much as a Captain's Log is written to keep a record of the semi-private experiences of a sailor traveling vast oceans, with the knowledge that the only way it will ever be read is if he makes it home safely, a web-log can be an intriguing forum - both private and public; possibly never read and possibly read only by a very selective audience; and charged with the potential for an occasional fantastic discovery afloat in a mundane, featureless seascape.

Then again, it's probably not as romantic as all that.

But the dramatic flare that leads me to such grandiose comparisons is not wholly inappropriate for discussing schools in America. Anyone who works with kids knows the comedy, drama and heroism that pass daily through their lives. And anyone who works in schools knows the intense tragedy that engulfs our current system.

I know I've been incredibly fortunate so far in my career as an educator, and much of what I will have to say here will reflect the exciting and inspiring energy I draw from my work. Some, too, will be the discouraging moments; and some will be the plodding day-to-day. All of it, though, will be in the spirit of deconstructing and interpreting the goings-on of my classroom practice and my work with peers in the profession, in order to get closer to the core of my personal philosophies about schooling. I'm looking forward to the journey ahead--I hope to discover sunken treasures, and I hope, too, for smooth sailing.