A new title?

Thanks everyone for your kind messages. And, don't worry, I'm not really going into hiding, just ending and taking away this blog to start another one, one that I won't be slightly embarassed if people in my life (or even students) find. I'll post a link shortly; I already have four entries (but don't worry, not one person has found it yet, at least according to Google Analytics).

The reason for the delay is the lack of a title, and I thought I'd try to get some help here. I love that "Epiphany in Baltimore" has sort of become a brand name, at least in my mind, and even thought about keeping it, but the meaning of that title is too specific to what I was trying to do here, I think.

So, I'm left trying to think of something good. The title should reflect what I'm trying to do with the new blog, and these reasons are many-fold: I want to expose the audience to both the good and the bad about teaching in Baltimore, from the wonderful students to the bureaocratic BS and poor facilities that we work with. I want to talk about how educational policies affect classrooms. And some other things that I'm not really sure about yet. I think that this city needs a teacher blogging, though, and not the kind of blog I had here, which was 20-30% about teaching and the rest minutia about my life. There are other teacher blogs in the city, but none that regularly update.

I looked at my Educational book shelf for some inspiration: Holler If You Hear Me (I love this title), Shame of the Nation (great, but too dark and doesn't fit), My Posse Don't Do Homework (too cheesy), Educating Esme (eh). Then, I tried looking at other teacher blog titles for inspiration: Teachers Are People Too!, hipteacher, School of Blog, etc. Nothing really jogged.

I thought about doing something related to Season 4 of The Wire, titling it something like, "Beyond the Puzzle Palace" (the word that show uses for North Avenue) or "Going Out on a Limb in a System That Knows How to Use a Chainsaw" (one of my favorite lines in the series, it also seems too obscure and wordy).

I thought about playing with that phrase I love, about the soft bigotry of low expectations. President Bush used this phrase when pushing through NCLB, but he didn't coin the phrase, and the phrase is actually something I think and say from time to time. "Challenging the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations," though... I'm not sure. Probably too wordy.

I thought about just "Baltimore Teacher," but I don't want to seem like I'm the poster child for us or anything.

I thought about something simple and fitting, like "For Love of Teaching," but I'm just not sure.

Ideas welcome. I'll be brainstorming all week.

Oddly enough, I have the other personal blog all figured out. Haven't given it out yet, though, and want to write a bit more before I do.