Dear Students:
You may not realize this, but our school does not have a "Create Your Own Snow Day" policy. Unless the school officially closes -- which today it did not -- your classes will meet at their normal times in their normal rooms, complete with regularly scheduled activities such as exams, presentations, collected homework, and the like.
I was dismayed to walk into class at 10:15 this morning to see that less than half of you had decided to attend. I realize that we've barely had any snow this winter so today's weather is exciting and different, and I realize that it's Friday, and I realize that most of you don't appreciate being required to take what you regard as an easy blow-off class. I get it. You look for excuses not to be there. Snow on a Friday morning seems like a...
Lifestyle
Dear Women's Ministry:
The world can give me cute cupcake designs and decorating tips, scrapbooking parties, casserole recipes and other ways to pass the time in the first world—Jesus is coming, so let’s all look busy. But truly, with my respect and love, may I be honest? If I wanted to learn how to decorate cupcakes, I would take a class on it. If I wanted to be educated on strategies for decorating my home inexpensively from Winners, I would just, you know, go to Winners. Or Pinterest. (I love Pinterest, you know.)
But I’m here with you tonight because I want what the world cannot give me. We’re choking on cutesy things and crafty bits—safe lady topics—and if one more person says that "modest is hottest" with a straight face, I may throw up. We are hungry for authenticity and...
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Dear Textbook Publishers,
I have a question for some of you. Having been in administration for quite a while now, I know that sometimes things that seem easy and obvious from the outside, aren’t. So I’m wondering if there’s a smarter answer to this than anything I can figure.
Why aren’t all of you issuing all of your major textbooks in formats that are accessible to students with disabilities?
I’m trying to be careful here. Some publishers are quite good about it, freely making available electronic editions of their popular texts so that students who need alternate formats can be up to speed from the first day of class. To you, I’m grateful. In the community college world, we’re focused on student success; it’s hard for a student to succeed when she can’t get the textbook until it...
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Dear Postmaster General Brennan:
No reasonable economist can make a convincing argument that the out-of-sight financial crises of the Postal Service can be fixed with 49 cent stamps. Postal Service marketers who believe that are dead wrong. Yet some do.
In our combined three-plus decades of service on the Postmaster General’s Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, we have seen an increasing emphasis on the part of a few senior Postal Service managers on assigning to the stamp subject and design program a burden it was never meant to bear: making a significant contribution to reducing Postal Service deficits.
Major reductions over time in its Stamp Services Office staffing and operating budgets have contributed to near-term but miniscule long term savings but at the cost of doing...
2,804
Dear Santa,
2015 was a pretty good year considering that I was able to land my first “real” job since graduating from college. The pay is not what I expected but after 18 months of getting nowhere, I was willing to compromise. And hey, this isn’t a long-term gig, just something to tie me over until the job market gets better.
I’ve been living at home since leaving school and working 30 hours per week at Starbucks. I enjoyed working there and made some really cool friends. I guess they were happy with me because they asked me to continue working a reduced schedule. I was cool with that and now help out 10-15 hours per week.
My folks think its time for me to move into my own place and I agree with them but between car payments and student loans, I’d be stretched pretty thin carrying my...
5,229
Dear Mayor RT Rybak,
At a recent panel event hosted by Educators for Excellence, you invited us as teachers to share our wishes, “if we could wave a magic wand and instantly make changes” that would help us eliminate the achievement gap. So, here goes…
Ms. Kragthorpe’s Education Priorities:
1. Redefine “school day” and the school year.
We need to knock the traditional agrarian calendar on it’s ear and look at school options that put needs of students first, such as year-round school, staggered school days with different starting and ending times within one school, and a staggered school year with more instructional days and more frequent, smaller breaks. A staggered school day with both students and teachers working on alternate, overlapping schedules would afford smaller class...
2,544
Dear Teachers,
Shy students have a hard enough time socializing and having their voice heard outside of school. They need someone to watch out for them. Make your classroom their safe haven.
When you call on them in class, don’t draw attention to their shyness. I had several teachers over the years who would call me out in class like, “Jordan, you never say anything. What do you think?” I always found that so embarrassing. Also, don’t give them back-handed compliments. It’s nice to be praised after presenting a project or reading a piece of writing, but being told, “It was nice to hear from you for once” or “I wasn’t expecting you to have such a strong speaking voice,” makes it a lot less nice.
If you are going to assign a group project, assign groups. My freshman year of high...
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Dear Minister Lindiwe Zulu,
You may have observed that I refrained from commenting on the events of the past week. I have been contacted by at least 15 journalists since last Thursday, but opted to remain above the fray.
It is not that I’ve not had opinions, but I chose to remain silent. However, your comments, as quoted in the Mail...
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Dear Sir/To Whom It May Concern/Folks at the Guardian
I hope this letter finds you we- Oh, who am I kidding.
Terry Prachett, you've been a fixture in my family's bookshelves and in our hearts. There is no one who can parallel your writing ability, your knack for making people laugh so uproariously, and your wit and intelligence. If we're talking legacies, there's few that are better to have than Discworld. I was a precocious kid, growing up in Pakistan, with parents that put me onto the habit of chain-reading. Open one, finish it, open another, rince (sic. Also, see what I did there?), repeat. Cigarette optional. Discworld novels were a part of that cycle; my parents' bookshelf was full of your wonders, but I was too young to truly appreciate them.
And then, last April, I went to...
2,520
Dear High Representative,
Dear Commissioner,
Dear Ministers,
In view of the EU-Turkey Association Council of 18 May which takes place against a backdrop of continuing crackdown on dissent in Turkey, we write to call on you to take this opportunity to address the systematic violations of the right to peaceful assembly with your Turkish counterparts.
On the 1st of May, a traditional day of demonstration all over the world, many demonstrators were detained and injured across Turkey. According to Turkey’s General Directorate of Security, 339 protesters were detained and 50 people, including police officers, were injured. An Istanbul court placed under arrest at least 19 of those detained in Istanbul, while the others were released pending trial, including 51 people subject to a...
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