"...success depends less on intellectual endowment than on perseverance and drive. As Professor Nisbett puts it, “Intelligence and academic achievement are very much under people’s control." I am tickled that Nicholas Kristof's New York Times' Op-Ed piece, "Rising Above I.Q." ranked as the No. 1 article emailed on Sunday. That means thousands of people are reading and thinking about the fact that most of us in education already know: No single ethnicity or race is smarter than any other. Rather, almost anyone who's willing to work really hard can be successful. As I learned in my initial Teach ...

Like so many of you right now, I am tired. I have not blogged in over a month (I'm sorry Teacher Magazine). I haven't made dinner in over 10 days, scrubbed the bathroom since winter, and my jiggly arms attest to how many workouts I've canceled with friends. This is because like so many other educators, I've been working 80-plus hours a week to improve teaching so all kids would learn (a lot). However, according to my fiancee's not-so-subtle hints lately, "I have so much to do" has become an inexcusable excuse for not enjoying life. While I realize part ...