Bud the Teacher

    Spent a good chunk of our first quarter putting together a website for our new and improved student newspaper.  The paper will be formally unveiled on Wednesday, but enough students and others know about it already that I don’t feel bad sharing it with you.  Enjoy.  Share your thoughts.  We’re just getting started — but I’m pretty impressed with their work so far. 
    I have a whole new class of student journalists (five of them) this quarter, and we’ll be continuing to improve the site, adding pictures and, hopefully, creating a community of writing for our school.      A note about student safety:  All of the writers are using screennames, and all of our student sources are only identified by first name and last initial.  How do you cite student sources in your online publications?

Casey was one of my students my first year of teaching.  I always learned more from her than she from me.  Today was no exception.  In response to a rather lengthy and angsty moment of doubt, she commented:

I think I know how you feel. It can be difficult to continue what we do
when we let our fears become too great. I’m a generally shy person to
begin with, so it can be doubly difficult for me. The issues I struggle
to educate others on can be very frustrating at times. I’ve had mixed
receptions, but enough lack of understanding or willingness to learn
that I wonder if it’s worth it. But fights were never won by giving up
and hiding. I just keep reminding myself that. Nothing will change,
expand, or get better if people shut up.

The lines are so good, they’re worth repeating:

But fights were never won by giving up
and hiding. I just keep reminding myself that. Nothing will change,
expand, or get better if people shut up.

Back to work.  Pardon the interruption.