and don't we know it. It costs what it costs (MA). Fortunately, only eight more months in daycare for #1.

Wow. In my very cost-conscious, single-car family we easily spend much more, w/o vacations or luxuries

Childcare (2 kids 5 days): 48K/yr
Mortgage: 36
Groceries/household crap: 24
Car+ins: 6
Utilities: 7
= 121K, before any clothes or miscellaneous home expenses

We're lucky, but also stretched!

Etel losing is crushing. But an at large seat would be hers for the taking in 27 if she wants it and Kamara is positioned now to break through next time if she chooses to run again.

Right now it feels like we are on the outside looking in at the rest of the country’s celebrations of a great night. But I agree there are bright spots. Bergman may have just won for the last time. And Rosen & Mitra look like improvements over Colorio. Rob winning is huge.

Most likely: Kamara.
My hope: Kamara and Davis.

For instance, this fantastic opening sentence from a student's essay I am grading right now. Is it a topic sentence? Debatable. But it does everything a topic sentence does, and that's what makes it so good. It's an evolved, improved version of what the student was likely taught to do in HS.

I think pretty much every paragraph needs a 1st sentence that establishes the paragraph's agenda and helps the reader understand why what comes next is relevant to what came before. Is every such sentence a HS english approved "topic sentence?" Maybe not, but they do similar things.

My argument: not everybody on the right is personally religious, but the right inspires religious thinking in its people.

In contrast, plenty of people on the left ARE religious, but the Democratic party operates according to a secular logic that has difficulty inspiring devotion among anyone.

Thanks, Dan. I know! I'm going to go over it in class with them bit by bit because I know they won't read it on their own.

pas de quoi!

I know there will be some resistance to this policy, but I'm excited about helping students see why real thinking and real writing matter.

Comments and feedback welcome, of course.

- Providing alternatives to AI (last page of the document) seems really important for getting buy-in. This was absent in the first version and lots of students suggested including it.

- Students are concerned about how I'll enforce my AI ban. I don't blame them. Reassuring them that this won't be a witch hunt and that they'll always have a chance to explain themselves will be an important part of implementing this policy.

- My students LOVED seeing it affirmed, in writing, that I see learning to think for themselves and communicate that thinking to others as the core goals of a liberal arts education. Many are feeling overwhelmed by the industry's increasing focus on careers and measurable outcomes.