This-n-That: A Sunday Smorgasbord of Six

Elementary History Teacher is grieving the loss of her mother, who died early Saturday morning: “She no longer hurts, she no longer fights for her next breath, and she no longer has to suffer the indignities her illness had brought her.” You might want to stop by and offer your condolences.

Ms. Cornelius over at A Shrewdness of Apes has generated a lively discussion about her “mixed experiences with homeschooled youngsters” because she knows “families who let their kids run wild and call it homeschooling.” Join in with your two cents’ worth!

NYC Educator writes about every teacher’s nightmare, when "The Principal Observes a Class.” (Maybe the details will sound disturbingly familiar!)

Dick at The Life That Chose Me muses about pay for paras. “Much of what we’re required to do as teachers could not be done without the support of these individuals,” he writes.

Bluebird’s Classroom is the site of some ruminations about knots, wiping noses and independence. See how Mrs. Bluebird weaves them all together here.

The Reflective Teacher meditates on the fact that many of us answered the call to teach because of the profound influence of one teacher in our lives. He remembers that Mrs. Hall and her “insistence for thorough work confounded me in a world of mediocre teachers who only sought minimal work.”