Today’s blog post is a throw over to a must read article. Here is the link.

I must say, I have had my issues with Diane Ravitch before (not personally; I do not know her) but this piece is entirely exceptional. Perhaps because it is so accessible. Truly, the lay person in the general public can read it and “get it”.

People in schools, parents of kids in schools, Joe and Jane on the street, this is a must read link if you want to know about our schools. We are just crushing our nation’s schools – and what’s worse is that it’s only getting worse.

*head on desk, banging*

I just got to Chicago where I am scheduled to speak at the IRA Annual conference with Alfred Tatum, Ingrid Law and Deborah Hopkinson on the power of using books in the classroom.

Awesome, right?

And even more awesome, upon checking into my hotel, the lady behind the front desk counter looked at me and said, “Hello, Mr. Sitomer. Welcome. We have decided to upgrade you.”

Of course, I immediately felt important and valued. I mean who doesn’t want to be upgraded?

When I got to my room it seemed to shine. The bed looked larger, the pillows looked fluffier and the towels in the bathrooms looked soft enough for a newborn prince’s bottom.

I felt good. I was upgraded!

Then later, needing directions, I went back down to the front desk, where I overheard the following.

“Oh, Hello Mrs. Jensen. We have decided to upgrade you.”

I knew my pillows weren’t fluffier. I had a feeling those towels weren’t hand-knit for the rear-end of a royal prince. Do-gone-it, that bed was barely a cot!

Wow, is that hotel using language effectively or what. Words create perception, perception creates meaning and meaning is what makes – and is what we take – from our experiences.

See, this is the value of attending national literacy conferences… you learn stuff everywhere.

Gotta go. It’s time to shower in that pathetic excuse for a bathroom. I mean really, they call that water pressure?