Certainly teachers themselves can do a better job of letting the world know how hard their profession is, but frankly, they have real work to do and a lot of it, so they don't have a whole lot of free time on their hands.

Everything I do is kind of a lesson, even if I am the only person who learns it.

A poem is the perfect place to celebrate imperfection and exult in the ways you fall short of being the person you want to be.

Great teachers will never be able to make up for bad parents, nor should they be expected to.

That's what teaching is, the art of explanation: presenting the right information in the right order in a memorable way.

I implore you, I entreat you and I challenge you to speak with conviction. To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it. Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker, it is not enough these days to simply question authority—you've got to speak with it too.

Education is the miracle; I'm just the worker.