Do Hard Things (Take a peek; it's easy)

From the time I was about 14, "Harris" was a big name in our household. Joshua Harris made courtship cool again (at least my mom hoped) with his book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and his follow up (I think) Boy Meets Girl proved once and for all that it was actually possible to meet a girl without "dating." Now younger brothers Brett and Alex have sparked a "rebelution," inspiring teens to "do hard things." 

With all of the raunchy, lazy, and thoughtless pus clogging the blogosphere, this site is an inspiration. Brett and Alex tackle a range of topics, most of which target teens. Check it out, and see if you're not better off after browsing what they have to say.

This poem caught my eye and made me cry. Yes, the Answer Man's eyes are still a bit moist. Their mother recently passed away, and it immediately made me think of my own mother with more than a little love and appreciation.

New Blogging Assignment

Don't worry student bloggers. The assignment isn't the hard thing. I'll get to that.

Here is your mission if you choose since you have no choice but to accept it:
Find a blog that you find particularly interesting, hilarious, compelling, educational, or entertaining, and then share it with us. I would like you to do this in two ways:

1. Leave a comment on this post (the one you are reading right now) where you leave the link to and brief description of the blog you have chosen. 
2. Go to your own blog, and write a brief post reviewing the blog you have chosen. Tell us what we can expect from the blog, why you find it interesting, etc. Be sure to include a hyperlink to the blog in your post. 

For my part, I will also complete two tasks:

• First, I will create one post with mini-summaries of all the blogs you submit. This will make it easy to crazy-click away, exploring all of the digital delight from one simple location.
• Secondly, I will start us off by writing a post doing exactly what I would like you to do. Look for that masterpiece above.

The Students Speak

So whose fault is it when schools fail? Ask a bunch of students and most of them will tell you, it's all the--
STUDENTS'??!! Student calling out students?! What does this mean?

I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by the volume of commentary that placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of apathetic students. Not that I disagree--or agree--but I thought more comments would be gunning for the teacher. In all fairness, many of you who posted admitted that both sides share responsibility for failure, and that sounds...fair.

As a teacher, I can only look to the factors that I control, so it is not especially productive for me to blame students. As a student, however, I would blame myself, just like many of you did.  It is encouraging to read the thoughts of students ready to take charge of their education, and their futures.