"Dream of Monarchs"
First publication for pay in
Volume 7 #1 of Tales of the Talisman
This was a reworked story I used in connection with Plato's Cave in Critical Thinking.
My trilogy,The Elder Saga,
is finished.
Finding
an agent or a publisher is a different job, slow moving, and infuriating.
Upstart Mystique is complete. Motif for all
my writing is social commentary not unlike what Clarke was famous for.
The first 55K is done for another novel. Normally the first words end up at the end of the story. This one has been difficult to plot and has no working title. It has an esoteric metaphysical underlayer and a main character who is the personification of evil.
Authoring
takes up much time and reading has taken a serious
hit. However, writers must read. I have provided reviews of the books I have read and recently noted when I finished each. However, in the absence of serious composing, reading has come alive: four books in June and July is looking to be as good, unless …
Read Mrs. Braden's Submission to NCTE on improperly posted teacher grading based on student scores.
Read my letter on education to the editor of the Wilson Quarterly.
Read my comments to Diane Ravitch on her book The Death and Life of the Great American School Systemhttp://www.dianeravitch.com/comments_page12.htm
The above was followed by Reign of Error that takes in after the business paradigm for education and the proliferation of charter schools (both profit and non-profit) that are syphoning tax dollars away from public school that are providing better education that the reformers are willing to admit. See my review in the list of reviews (left).
Thirty years after A Nation at Risk
http://neatoday.org/2013/04/25/a-nation-at-risk-turns-30-where-did-it-take-us/
Good article. Here's the final paragraph:
“In some ways, A Nation at Risk was helpful, but what we’ve seen in the past 30 years are too many misguided efforts – most notably No Child Left Behind – that have only compounded the problems the report identified,” Van Roekel said. “Educators across the country work hard to give their students the great education they deserve, but lawmakers cannot keep pulling the rug out from under them with bad ideas. We need to do what we know works. We need to fully fund our schools, invest in early childhood education, increase parental involvement and keep our class sizes small, especially in high-poverty schools at the lower grades. This is how we’ll make our schools work for every student.”