Read, Think, Speak and Write

"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write." John Adams, 1765

I jotted down this quotation a couple weeks ago when I was at the post office. I really do believe there's a reason for doing the things we do, and today the reason I jotted it down hit me. On Monday we start the final quarter of the school year. It's always a crazy, hectic, chaotic time. Lots of things are going on and the we're all ready for summer R and R. So, with all that stuff, why did I decide it would be a good idea to teach "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"? Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful book and it covers a lot of material in less than three hundred pages. The first few chapters are going to be difficult. The prep time for the language and historical morality has to be discussed very thoroughly. I know that we wouldn't have been ready for this last fall, so the timing is good even though I'm feeling a little anxious.

Read, think, speak, write. Today I realized that that is my educational philosophy. That's the underlying goal for everything I have my students do. What a realization after 12 years in education.