{"id":1592,"date":"2009-03-30T00:21:50","date_gmt":"2009-03-30T04:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shermandorn.com\/wordpress\/?p=1592"},"modified":"2009-03-30T00:21:50","modified_gmt":"2009-03-30T04:21:50","slug":"seattle-will-be-drier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shermandorn.com\/?p=1592","title":{"rendered":"Seattle will be drier"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent some time this weekend finishing the first complete draft of a talk I’m giving in Seattle on Thursday. I’m going to be heading there while a few thousand historians are leaving Seattle after the end of the Organization of American Historians meeting. I’m either expecting to find a time machine or I am heading there for a different meeting (Council for Exceptional Children<\/a>). Last time I was in Seattle, it was wetter and colder than what’s forecasted for the middle of this week. We had a drenching rain in Tampa this morning, so things will even out in my personal experience this week, even if not for the world. <\/p>\n

I hope my neighbors weren’t paying close attention while I was timing the draft. I don’t read papers word-for-word, but I wanted to get a sense of how far I’m off on time, so I read it aloud while alternating between the laundry room and the kitchen. <\/p>\n

Oh, the topic? Accountability and students with disabilities. I think I know how I’m ending the hour, but the cliffhanger before the third set of commercials is the tough part right now, and I haven’t yet decided if Jason’s going to live. If he does, I’m going to have to tear up the last act and start fresh. I’ve given a spoiler, haven’t I?<\/p>\n

More seriously, this talk is giving me the opportunity and prod to think through some connections between areas of education politics that I mentally put on “percolate”: the democratic rationale for public education, tensions between public and private purposes of schooling, and what technocratic mechanisms may be useful for (and in what circumstances). When I get back, I have to think about potential outlets and how to get a potential coauthor to give up enough time to participate (and the value involved in that). <\/p>\n

The only serious performance question I have is the extent of corny jokes and how far I can\/should push them. <\/p>\n