thoughts about this blog

Dear Kendra,

I went back and read our first two letters, and accidentally read your draft which i didn't realize wasn't published--sorry. So I'm writing this as if i don't have any idea what your next letter is about, and that's good, because I have been thinking a few things about this blog and i wanted to tell you what was going on in my head before we went any further. One interesting thing about being a stay at home is that although i am always busy, i have a lot of thought time. i am constantly stuck in my head. That can be both good and bad. Anyway...

First of all, i don't know if my style of humor is right for this. I don't really know what I mean by "my style of humor" but to make it concrete, my comments on the word "penal" might not be appreciated, respected, and maybe we are trying to be more "serious". More importantly, is it even funny? I am only concerned because i want this to be open to an audience of more than just our friends from Hilltop should we decide to allow the world to read it (and they WILL want to read this).

Which leads me to my second point, which you tried to bring up in your letter, and i never addressed: who will read this? I don't know but somebody besides us should. The more feedback/opinions/information shared/ the better, I think. We are all learners here :) But also I am shy so it is hard for me. I haven't told anyone about it but M. He hasn't read it though. The one big draw back for me, however, is i will probably hold back on the emotional/personal stuff. And not try to be funny because bad humor will ruin it. I'm hoping at some point we will just decide to send the link to our peers and after that it will be word of mouth. Maybe you can use it as a project for the school of ed. Maybe one of your professors will like it. Maybe they all will and mine from the CU school of ed will want to read it too. right?

Where will we get our ideas for our entries? I am not worried about that. I feel like we are both continuously inspired by the beauty, imagination, and abilities we see in children, and shocked by the horrors we have witnessed in education (or hopefully that's just me) (not talking about Hilltop)(Let me clarify: Title I school in Denver) (and I think we've both read Jonathan Kozal). I just think we will have plenty of things to talk to each other about.

A question from me: How scholarly are we to sound? Clearly this is not a formal writing situation, but i find myself stressing when I end a sentence with a preposition. And what do you think about typos, correct grammar, or typing "I" as "i". Should we strive to sound educated and elegant? Or is that wasting the efforts I should be spending on content, research, and introspection?

I think that's all my thoughts regarding this blog for now. Let me know yours.

So you heard a third grader telling his friends he was going to grope you against your will? Wonder where he got that idea from? That is so 8 year old to say that and not notice you were close enough and he was loud enough for you to hear him. What were you wearing? Just kidding.

love,
joy