Hard News: In the Clouds

I'm a big fan of downtime. Lots and lots of downtime. The kind of time where I lay on my back and watch clouds stream overhead.

Oh look, an apple...an elephant...a massage therapist.

For the first time in my six years of teaching little kids the disciplines of stagecraft, meditation, yoga, identification with character, Elizabethan history, scansion of iambic verse, vocal technique, journal writing and the plots of Shakespearean text, I am seriously considering that this program may be too ambitious.

Perhaps I am part of the problem and adding one more pressure to already full plates.


"No child left behind" is a well-meaning mantra with a cruel spine of standardized testing that, in my opinion, muddies its good intentions.

But it is a real thing and stressful both for teachers and students.

Eager parents want everything for their children, but when is it simply too much?

This article addresses the question better than I can:

Parents, take a deep breath (Mary MacVean, LA Times)