I'm listening to Mary Poplin at veritas.org--the topic is "Mother Theresa: The difference beteween religious work and social work." She has some great things to say about Mother Theresa, whose work was only to serve Jesus, not people--that's the difference between religious work and social work. And it's all about prayer. Poplin speaks of her own experience as a volunteer in Calcutta.

She starts to address more issues related to education in her q and a's... and I look forward to listening to her talk on that subject next.

MORE: I'm listening to the education talk--some really good stuff--probably the most sound and reasonable educational reform ideas that I've heard. A few good bytes:

Regarding the top-performing teachers at schools she studied: the top people on the list have been resisted by their principal; but they're not fighting the particular programs being perscribed by NCLB stuff--they're using it; there is a lot of accountable talk in their classrooms; there is a lot of academic talk; there is not wasted time.

"...we must address social justice and accountability together--they're separated now...Both the left and the right are completely committed to their particular ideologies--behaviorism (the right) and constructivism (the left) must be combined."

The biggest predictor of reading level is how many books have been read to the child when they're young. (Thanks, parents, for reading to us so much.)

"It is not easy to teach children who have missed being read to...or who are growing up in dangerous situations. It can be done, but it takes serious, hard work."