More than three decades ago Isaac Asimov predicted life in 2019. He was kinda right.

Wayback in 1983 the Toronto Star asked famed scientist what he thought life would be like in 2019. As that year is upon us, it’s a good time to look at his predictions.

Most of his thoughts were opaque, and a lot of is what you might expect given the time. For instance, he alludes to nuclear war between the Soviets and the U.S. potentially wiping out humanity. And he focuses heavily on…

You mad they cut his hair, but not that his school is killing minds

Civil Rights Tweeter Shaun King posted a “disgusting and heartbreaking” story today about a high school wrestler in New Jersey who was “made” to cut off his dreadlocks by a racist referee as a condition of participating in an important match.

Here is King’s tweet.

As with most of King’s tweets, reaction was swift and predictable. Racism was decried.

But I’m bothered by two other elements of the…

If you think it takes a miracle for black kids to succeed in school, you’re racist

Can we talk about miracles for a moment?

To be clear, I’m not talking the Christmas miracle that is Rudolph, or the Christian miracle that is Christ, but the education miracle that lives in the videos and social media timelines depicting joyous black kids receiving college enrollment decisions.

We love to share those stories on Facebook. A lot.

As an example, there was the black 17-year-old from…

I’m here for restorative justice practices until your son punches my daughter at school

Ask me what I think about school discipline and I will give you an answer born out of my time steeped in education tea.

A decade ago I campaigned for school board saying I thought children should have safe, orderly, and rigorous schools that prepare them for a good life. When asked by parents about student suspensions I said “the number of school suspensions should be exactly equal to the number…

Some states make voting insanely easy while others move to close the vote

Living in Minnesota where voting is fair, easy, and quick I harbor a great deal of pride. I tsk-tsk when hearing about people in other states waiting in “insanely long” lines to vote, being turned away because they’ve been purged from voting rolls, or having their “leaders” attempt to close polling locations so that it’s harder for them to vote.

The growing anti-voting spirit in America…

What is the world coming to when Taylor Swift is more woke than Kanye West?

About five years ago Taylor Swift and Kanye West became an item of history when he stormed the stage at MTV’s Video Music Awards show during Swift’s acceptance speech for video of the year.

She was 19-years-old, a rising star, and somewhat fragile.

West was still on the incline, but also beginning the process of losing his damn mind, spectacularly, publicly, without remorse.

If you would have…

If the only way to make American great again is to silence voters, we need a different goal

Americans. Whatever our differences let’s agree to keep some things sacred, like the expectation we each have equal access to voting.

We say we want a free and fair society so why do we ignore partisan attempts to separate We The People from the vote??

We hear about gerrymandering, but we plug our ears. Why?

We gloss over alarming evidence of voter suppression including the elimination of polling…

Heterosexism in education: “We are afraid that our children will be recruited into homosexuality.”

Homophobia is a world-wide disease that threatens the lives of people who just want to do their jobs, go home, and live their lives.

On that point, meet Mr. Hoevelmeier, a gay teacher at a prestigious private school in Zimbabwe.

He resigned last week after 15 years of services as a popular instructor:

A teacher at the school for 15 years, Mr Hovelmeier had kept his sexuality a secret until last…

I heart this teacher so hard

No matter our disagreements in education, there should be one universal truth: students do not get credit for work they haven’t done.

But wait, there is something I’ve never heard of before that puts this “you don’t get credit for what you didn’t do” rule in question.

It’s called the “no zero” policy.

You’ve heard of “zero tolerance,” but what is “no zero”?

It’s a policy that ties a teacher’s…

The #OpportunityMyth is another problem that poisons the public education well

As a public school parent I feel pressured to take a solemn oath of loyalty to free government schooling as if these schools little temples of a high democratic order. I comply, mostly, uncomfortably, because whether I want to or not I must create a compensatory bond with the entity that keeps my children five days a week. For the most part it works out. My kids survive and I cling to the weak…

Never assume your students know how to work together on a project

I remember back in the day (or do people still do these?) when teachers in 4th or 5th grade tended to assign “the state” or “the country” report. Way too often the assumption was made that the students pretty much knew how to do these. The teacher would pass out the “packet” that explained the project, showed an example of a bibliography and often included templates for specific information that…

How a Gratitude Journal Can Help Make Your Child Happier

What if there was a daily practice that could help your kids be happier throughout their lives? In fact, there is! It’s called gratitude journaling, and it’s a simple practice that leads to increased happiness.

Why Kids Should Start Gratitude Journaling

Studies show that practicing gratitude makes you happier. People who intentionally focus on recognizing people and things that they are thankful…