“Cohort” is a term used in sociology and education that refers to a group of people that experience a certain set of events simultaneously as they move through time.  Cohort isn’t a perfect term, but I wonder if we are coming to a point where we need a term that gets rid of the meddlesome… Continue reading

We’re facing the most dire economic situation in our nation’s history, but that doesn’t prevent Inside HigherEd from printing the most uninformed analyses of the current situation. Here’s a sample. Commenting on a recent letter from 51 “presidents, chancellors, regents, and heads of university associations” asking that portions of the stimulus be spent on shovel-ready  highered… Continue reading

I’d thought I was abandoning blogs and projects in a linear pattern, but history here has taken a Viconian turn: I’ve revived my Endless Lunch blog, with the purpose of using it to connect with other writers in pursuing my personal new year’s resolution — to write 52 songs and 12 short stories this year. … Continue reading

Listen: turquoise-tales-of-flossie-fillet [Please note, I am asserting my fair use right to this material, as it is provided here as a necessary sample to supplement the educational and editorial purposes of this post, is posted at a severely degraded 64kb/s, and is posted for a limited period of time. See http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php for more details.] I’m… Continue reading

Well, it’s happened. Arne Duncan is going to be the next Secretary of Education. The theory of magic lawyer powers has prevailed. Don’t get me wrong. I think one can have a completely irrelevant degree, and do a fine job. But isn’t it just a little bit interesting that when Obama was looking for a… Continue reading

I find tracking the Secretary of Education appointment news maddeningly difficult. And that’s distressing to me, because some of the names I’ve heard floated would be absolutely disastrous. And others I’ve never heard of heard of, have no time to research, and the media does not help me one bit. So how to judge? How… Continue reading

Probably the best job I ever had was teaching writing — and I still keep an eye out for interesting methods of rethinking the teaching of composition. In the waning hours of NaNoWriMo last night I found a decent one. Desperate to make it over the finish line by typing anything (anything!) resembling novel prose,… Continue reading

I am sad to say that I never read this book before now. The way this book had always been presented to me was on the merits of its premise, which I am sure you all know, either through word of mouth or the film — it’s about a world where firemen burn books to… Continue reading

So that was the title I was tempted to throw on the recent post over at OCWBlog. It seemed impolitic over there, but if you are stopping by here, you know me and the spirit it’s offered in. The heart of the OCWBlog post is this graph: I’ve been frankly a little surprised, since signing… Continue reading