School is starting up, so this week’s articles are mostly related to education. But they’re not all from the NYT or the Atlantic, which I like. (Sometimes, I don’t read widely enough.) Please enjoy!

Going Backwards: A Year in the Old New Orleans Public Schools

When I was in college, I spent a summer teaching middle school students in New Orleans. It got me hooked on teaching. In this piece, Peter Cook recounts his year at John McDonogh High School. If you’ve taught in urban public schools, most of it, sadly, you know all too well.

The Hardest Test: The opening of Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School

This is a great profile of a new school in San Francisco. Can Willie Brown provide an excellent education for kids of color in Bayview-Hunters Point? (Sometimes, I feel like every article on education is in conversation with the TAL episode from a couple weeks back.)

Why There Are High Rates of PTSD In This Teacher's Classroom

I like Jeff Duncan-Andrade. (So does everyone else.) This is a quick interview with him about toxic stress and what teachers need to do to help students feel safe. He says, “You have to win the heart to win the head.”

This is what 210 Kindles looks like! Thanks to 30 friends and family who attended the first annual Kindle Registration Party, these Kindles got out of boxes, into cases, and registered on the KCP’s new dedicated website, kindleclassroomproject.org. Thank you to all the volunteers!

Communicating in Exponential Times

I’ve been having trouble communicating with friends and colleagues lately. (They don’t always seem to respond.) Now I know what I’ve been doing wrong!