This is my new adventure in blogging... it may work out... it may not. Let's wait and see. An idea on my mind lately is challenge. Actually mostly what's been on my mind is the opposite of challenge... the lack of challenge, the dross of 'at-level', and how scared we teachers seem to be of giving our students things that genuinely challenge them. Take reading for example... why not give kids something to read that they can actually get their teeth into, why stick to the golden rule of 90-95% accuracy? Why not let kids struggle, just a bit, just for a while - would it hurt? Why are we so scared of giving kids hard stuff to read? What is the benefit of so-called lateral extension (in less PC terms, making kids read 'the whole level', or in even less PC terms, just not letting them go 'up')? Why just let them go for it? Imagine what that must feel like for a keen, capable reader... knowing there's a whole world of interesting books out there ...