A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.

In charting our course to the future, we are mindful of our path from the past.

Oklahomans value our children and our seniors. Oklahomans value traditions of faith. Oklahomans value our heroes, our veterans. Oklahomans value innovation and the creative arts.

The only thing holding us back is ourselves.

I had the fortune or misfortune to learn how to read fluently starting at the age of three. So I had read maybe 150 books by the time I hit 1st grade. And I already knew that the teachers were lying to me.

The same plasticity that allows us to form a reading circuit to begin with, and short-circuit the development of deep reading if we allow it, also allows us to learn how to duplicate deep reading in a new environment. We cannot go backwards. As children move more toward an immersion in digital media, we have to figure out ways to read deeply there.

I was a good student. I was lame. I was into school and didn't really go out much, so I guess I wasn't the coolest person on the planet.

I felt the need to unlearn my formal education.