When students are given scaffolding—time, tools, and support to climb the ladder of learning—they don’t just survive Shakespeare or Poe, they enjoy them. From Wimpy Kid to Julius Caesar to The Tell-Tale Heart, I’ve seen students connect when teachers have the freedom to adapt. Scaffolding isn’t extra; it’s the bridge that makes real learning possible.

Frederick Douglass knew the truth: literacy makes people unfit for slavery. As Juneteenth approaches, here's why real education still threatens unjust power.

Teaching high school poetry brought me back to Charles Bukowski. Thirty years ago, saw him as edgy but cynical. Now, I see something else: a brutal kind of honesty about survival, pain, and what it means to live honestly.

Summer reading shouldn’t feel like homework—it should feel like freedom. This joyful guide shares fun, engaging picks for all ages and celebrates the kind of reading that builds lifelong habits: relaxed, curious, and totally self-chosen. Read what you love. Love what you read. And pass it on.

Last week, I wrote about The Raven and the feeling of sinking into sorrow. This week, Thunderbolts offered a counterpoint. The newest Marvel film doesn’t show heroes at their best—it shows them broken, grieving, still healing. And it reminds us that showing up anyway is powerful. In a time when mental wellness support is being stripped away, we need stories that say: you still matter. Even in the dark, you’re not alone.