It's odd how memory works, isn't it?
When the kids started school this week, I was trying to remember my classes and teachers from 8th grade. I didn't expect to remember the teachers' names, but I expected to remember what courses I had; like, what I learned in math that year. I could not.
A year or two ago (have I been dealing with this for so long?), I did something that has essentially turned my neighbors against me. Or at least, it feels that way.
Something happened, and I didn't handle it well. I frequently don't handle social things well. Its paradoxical, considering that if people - specifically, my neighbors - took the time to really get to know me (and vice-versa), they might understand why I don't handle these things well.
I read a piece by Cory Doctorow called Standardized testing and schools as factories: Louis CK versus Common Core which talks about a comedian who dislikes the application of Common Core.
I'm not writing to defend Common Core, at least not fully. People around our district that talk about it seem to have a limited understanding or a skewed perspective on what it is. I think the problems with Common Core are often not what people most frequently surface.