I viewed a clip from Ted Talks that was delivered by Sir Ken Robinson.  It was inspiring.  He offered a quote from Abe Linclon that was delivered in December of 1862 when our country was in a crisis.

 Lincoln said, " The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.  The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion.  As our case is new so we must think anew and act anew .  We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."

I love that word, "disenthrall." What does it mean exactly?  Oxford says, "to free from a controlling force; to liberate." Perhaps this is what we must do now in education.  We must disenthrall ourselves with our systems as we know them.

Last week ended our first week of state exams for our students in grades 3-8.  Each day students were given a ninety minute exam in English Language Arts.  By the end of the exams some of our third graders cried.  One fourth grader threw up on his exam and then on his teacher.  Most of the kids seemed subdued by the ordeal.  Is this really the best we can do?