At first I thought I’d just reply to a post on the internet.

A professional academic was writing about his observations of children in the school cafeteria, then in the classroom, and the way teachers use reward to control the result. He works toward zingers: “Children do not grow when pushed from outside.”

I wanted to say, “Yes,” and “Thank you.”

Every contribution to the mix stirs the pot.

I’ve been doing that for years, yet look where we are today…Education is failing, test scores are dropping, ignorance spreads. We can’t even agree on basic things.

Don’t we want our children to learn?

Yes.

Don’t we want them to be prepared for life?

Yes.

Don’t we want them to live better in a better world better than ours?

Uh…well, maybe, probably.

We live in a world where, for the first time, children will not be able to live better than their parents, will not be able to buy a house, can’t afford to have children, will rent an apartment or live back at home in their own old room.

What happened? What went wrong?

Questions can have uncomfortable answers. So we stop asking.

When we stop asking questions, we stop finding answers.

I take (part of) the blame upon myself.

We, teachers, the profession, have failed.

Not individually, but en masse.

We can’t (seem to) agree on what education is.

Is it higher test scores? Is it preparation for college? Is college just job preparation?

I do (and don’t) like reading articles that raise issues, ask and sometimes answer. “It’s unacceptable!” “Let’s do something about it!”

If we stop at words, we stop.

I apologize. I could have done more, should have.

I should have been a better person, less lazy, more assertively leaderly.

I should stop apologizing.

When I see “problems,” I should do something about it.

Oh, wait. I am.

When I write about the way things are, and what I did that worked, that adds to the mix. Every time someone says, “Oh, yeah! You’re right. I see that. I’ll try it,” that’s another drop in the ocean that leads to a groundswell.

I cry in public over the state of the world. Those rivers running down the street, washing away detritus, those are my tears.

That tidal wave rushing to sweep the shore, that’s me.

But don’t just take my word for it. And for heaven’s sake, take the spotlight off me, put it on my students.

I love teaching, my profession, my career, my life. I love my students, which is why I never wanted the status of leadership, though I grudgingly did assume it over and over as needed, but my life was in the classroom with my students. They were people and we were people together. Their success was my success.

So…now what?

Words without action are just words.

I could go back to the classroom. Maybe even just one class. That’s not enough, but it’s something.

Sisyphus pushed the rock uphill, it rolled back down, and he pushed it up again. Good story. Instructive. But it’s just a story, and we can change the ending.

People advise me (they’re always telling me what to do), “Go on the road, join the lecture circuit, spread the word.”

Oh, wait. I already am, by blog.

Now all I need to do is get people to read it.