Dear Friends,
I hope you enjoy Christmas Day. As a Jew, I have great respect for people of all faiths. I believe in live and let live.
I am aware that for many people, Christmas is a sad time because they think of their childhood and their memories are aglow with presents and family, but also thoughts of loss.
The best antidote to sadness is to reach out and help others. Volunteer to work in a soup kitchen. Former President Obama visited a children’s hospital in D.C. and brought joy. A man in Arizona found a child’s list of wishes for Santa, attached to a balloon that landed on his ranch, and he tracked her down–a little girl in Nogales, Mexico–tried to find everything on her list, and brought Christmas gifts for her and her little sister. He and his wife crossed the border into Mexico to spread joy. They had lost their only child and missed having children in their lives.
There is so much good around us, and so many opportunities to do good for others.
Do whatever you can to ease the pain of those who are less fortunate than yourself.
As for this blog, here are my plans. I should take a break for the next week, but people keep sending things that I want to share. So I am going part-time. I will post whatever interests me. Maybe one post a day, or two, or three.
Stay tuned.
2019 will be a great year for the Resistance!
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
SA
On Tue, Dec 25, 2018 at 9:02 AM Diane Ravitch’s blog wrote:
> dianeravitch posted: ” Dear Friends, I hope you enjoy Christmas Day. As a > Jew, I have great respect for people of all faiths. I believe in live and > let live. I am aware that for many people, Christmas is a sad time because > they think of their childhood and their memor” >
Same to you
Sent from my iPad
>
And may you too have an awesome Christmas Day. Went to the Christmas Mass early this morning here in Sarasota. It was beautiful and on the way out the church gave out books that is titled Into His Likeness by Edward Sri a theologian and appears regularly on EWTN…It’s about being a follower of Christ , born poor and becoming the world’s greatest rabbi…I don’t read these kind of books. I am a mystery, & suspense, crime solving by detectives reader myself! I was thinking of sending one to Trump! Merry Christmas….
Virus-free. http://www.avg.com
On Tue, Dec 25, 2018 at 9:02 AM Diane Ravitch’s blog wrote:
> dianeravitch posted: ” Dear Friends, I hope you enjoy Christmas Day. As a > Jew, I have great respect for people of all faiths. I believe in live and > let live. I am aware that for many people, Christmas is a sad time because > they think of their childhood and their memor” >
Take some time to listen to good music today. One of my favorite Christmas songs:
Diane, thank you for your beautiful thoughts. You certainly deserve a rest. [I also remember how long your ‘rest’ lasted the last time you tried. May this attempt be better.]
The BEST to you and your family!!! You are a beautiful person who helps many. Thank you!!!
Thank you for all your good work, Diane. May 2019 offer us all joy and peace. (The man who found the balloon is a neighbor of ours.) With appreciation and affection, Max
Sent from my iPhone
>
Thank you, Diane, for all the good work you do.
And thank you to the many who read Diane’s blog.
Happy holidays to you and yours, Diane!
I should take a break for the next week, but ….
Maybe forget the “but”
and take some
“Be good to Diane time.”
Enjoy the holidays. Thanks for all you do and for this blog. We look forward to your reading your next book.
Diane, thanks for all you do, best wishes today and forever. My greatest gift is that I am still here (on earth), functioning and biking when I can. Happy Holidays to you and all the commenters who find solace in this blog.
Like you, dear Diane, I am a Jew. And while I have never celebrated Christmas with a tree and such, my family and I always have had holiday traditions involving decorating friends’ trees, Christmas dinners at friends, giving presents, and of course, enjoying holiday music. It is the last thing that i have found particularly nostalgic. Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Nat king Cole to mention a few all remind me of my dad singing those wonderful holiday songs and my mom playing them on the piano. Bittersweet time this year especially with the crazy man keeping us on edge. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy new year. Better times must be ahead!
I have always assumed my grandparents were right…God was almighty and could do anything he wanted, and he chose to “make all kinds” of folks. We shouldn’t second guess; we should try to learn the wisdom behind diversity…and then TEACH! Thanks for your efforts, Diane.
It is not those mailing you articles who will not give you a break. Powel will be fired on Wednesday. By Thursday” it”will be aking if he can fire Roberts. By Friday Eric Prince will be given a contract to provide security in all Public Religious Schools as a prerequisite for federal support (LOL)
Happy Holidays to all.
Seasons greetings to you, Diane! I am thankful for the work you do, your scholarship, activism and determination. You live the “power of the pen.” May 2019 bring many more people awareness of the need to defend public education in order to preserve it for future generations.
I am also someone that respects many different ways to worship. One thing I learned in my “useless” anthropology courses is that all cultures have a religion. It seems to be that most people have an inherent need to believe in something beyond themselves. So joy to the world; may 2019 bring enlightenment!
Diane
Thank you for your good wishes.
Thank you for the hope and persistence you inspire to protest even in darkest times throughout the year.
Diane and all who comment and keep us thinking here (for years on this blog)
Merry Christmas
As a Buddhist I have a particular soft spot for a particular Jew. Thank you for demonstrating how to fight evil and wishing one and all a wonderful holiday season.
I’m going to try to seriously cut down my screen time the next few days too. To the beach with books to read for me! Happy New Year! May 2019 bring solidarity and restoration. Thank you, Diane.
LeftCoastTeacher: “To the beach with books to read for me!”
I’m jealous. The beaches in Indiana are too cold to visit. Enjoy!!!!
Take a complete break… Trust me… you need to do this… we will know that you are there and will return.
I received the message, below, from a dear friend. I am posting it here, for ALL MY DEAR FRIENDS in this teacher’s room.
Merry Christmas TO all my keepers!!!!
from SUSAN LEE SCHWARTZ
“Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there’d always be more.
“But then my mother died, and on that clear summer’s night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any more.
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away never to return.
So… While we have it … it’s best we love it …And care for it … And fix it when it’s broken … And heal it when it’s sick. This is true. For marriage … And old cars … And children with bad report cards … And dogs with bad hips … And aging parents … And grandparents.
“We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.
“Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.
“There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special … And so, we keep them close!”
“We received this from someone who thinks we are ”keepers”, so we’ve sent it to the people we think of in the same way … NOW IT IS YOUR TURN to send this to those people that are “keepers” in your life.”
“Good friends are like stars … You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.”
“Keep them close!”
Trump tweeted this morning:
“I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security. At some point the Democrats not wanting to make a deal will cost our Country more money than the Border Wall we are all talking about. Crazy!”
I responded that he could end this misery by resigning. Of course he would still be all alone, even in Trump Tower. Or Mar-a-Lago. The emptiness is within him.
Beautiful!
Thank you for sharing that.
Merry Christmas to all!
Great message, Susan. Have a great holiday season everyone.
Try to do it. U never seem to cut back. We leave for Vero Beach Jan. 6, weather permitting. But CT legislative session will still be on my list from afar.
Thanks, Gail, I hope you read the post about the Common Cause report on Connecticut charter advocates attacking public schools.
Thank you Diane. May you and your loved ones enjoy blessings, peace, and joy this week and throughout the coming new year.
All, Happy Holidays to you and yours! May they be the best ever!
Not sure how to thank you Diane for being a much-needed source of inspiration to teachers all around the country every day. Your commitment to decency, transparency and democracy set the bar for all. It is people like you, unafraid to speak truth to power, who will enable this great country to survive this amoral malignant presidency. Thank you for your time and efforts. Thank you for making a difference.
Callisto: I agree totally. Beautifully stated!!
Yes: the secret is in giving.
This you have done in spades.
Enjoy the holidays, Diane. And all who’ve chosen to be a part of this on line family.
Thanks for allowing us into your living room. In many ways, it reminds me of a constant Christmas dinner from my youth. I lived with my grandfather, who was 87 the year I was born. All the local children would descend on our little farmhouse on holidays and eat and talk. Riotous arguments would erupt between my Herbert Hoover aunt and her FDR brother. Then they would all hug each other and go home. It took me years to understand that everybody did not behave this way, that sometimes political arguments led to semi-permanent hostility.
We need a national living room like that. One in which we can disagree passionately without going home angry. One where divisive intention is swamped by good will.
I thank you for your contribution to that general direction.
Have a wonderful holiday season, Diane! Love and blessings to you, Mary, and your family.
I also agree the the wonderful tapestry of faith in the U.S. makes us all stronger and better. In November, I take my AP Geography class on a “houses of worship” tour. We usually go to three houses of worship, and I change them around, so that I also learn more about various faiths. We’ve been to synagogues, a mosque, Catholic and Orthodox churches, and a Buddhist temple. We’re in Utah, so many of my students are Mormons, with several Catholics and several of other faiths, and we all LOVE the tour, every year. The parents who go with us LOVE the tour. We always learn so much, and come back further appreciating the strength we have in diversity here in the U.S.
May more people respect and appreciate the diversity in this country in the coming year, and may many more eyes be opened to the wonderfulness of variety.