School Life: A Brief Respite for We Who Can't Bear More on NCLB, NAEP, or the Achievement Gap

First it was jobs, then it was tutoring. Now the NYT tells us you can get someone else to play your video game for you ( Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese). The WashPost alludes to Shakespear and dishes on just how honest to be in your college essay (To Thine Self Be True, but Not Overly So).

Leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise -- it's the latest craze (Bookcrossing via Jimmy K.). Media watchdogs catch another Fox falsehood -- this one about Chrismahanakuanza ( School lawyer scolds O'Reilly for airing false dress code story).

Slate wants you to know just in case one of your students (or kids) want to know (How Do You Start a Gang?). If the USDE can do it, so can Santa. Via The Onion (Santa Signs Legislation To Help Special-Wants Children).

More Onion foolery: New Video Game Designed To Have No Influence On Kids' Behavior. On a more serious note, the New Yorker tells the sad story of what happens when your book is turned into a big Disney movie (Becoming Mary Poppins).

Most Popular Toys Of The Last 100 Years. Forbes can say what it wants, but my vote is for Lincoln Logs. According to the Boston Globe, these punk/Goth kids are into something else -- and grownups don't like it: Minn. high school bans 'bondage' pants.