Back to School Night

Finally, I'm packing up papers and getting ready for tomorrow morning when I will be back in the classroom. For the last six months I've been a writer, a traveler, and a woman who loved to sleep in. And while all three things are still a part of my life, they won't happen with the same frequency as before.

Part of me is looking forward to meeting my students, turning some of them on to films, and teaching them the power of their own words. I really do believe that "writing well is the best revenge," as Zelda Fitzgerald once said. Revenge has a negative connotation, but the sense of showing the world that one counts, that's power. When Nelson Mandela came to Boston after he was released from prison in 1990, he told high school students, "education is the best weapon."

The truth is, I can only reach students who are at least a tiny bit open to being reached. Education is a dance we do together. Let's get this party started.