Donate Now Student, who happens to be white: Ms. ____, where do you get those Starbucks energy drinks? Me: Oh, I stop at the gas station on my way to school — the Double Quick. Student (in a shocked, ingenuous whisper): Ms. ____, that’s where the black people go. (Silence) Student: I don’t mean no harm in it.…

Donate Now On a rainy Sunday like today, I can’t help but curl up on the couch and write in my blog. Or at least think about it. I need to get reacquainted with this thing. As the months have marched on – as the weather has changed from Mosquito to Frost to Flood, and my teaching has…

“Do Now”: Please tear yourself away from your computer, make your way to the nearest bookstore, and pick up the current issue of Oxford American (http://www.oxfordamericanmag.com/index.cfm). It’s a magazine that features writing from and about the South. You will physically need to get your butt to Borders because, tragically, the article I want you to read does not appear on the publication’s website —…

Fortunately:  We’ve been on a quest for background knowledge these past few days so that we can start reading Animal Farm next week. Because I studied Russian and Soviet politics and economics rather seriously in college, this has been an exciting time for me. I LOVE HISTORY! YAY!  Unfortunately: As much as I try to galvanize my…