25 Best Blogs 2009

If you find yourself worrying about this country's educational system, this blog will send you over the edge. Detention Slip bills itself as "your daily cheat sheet for education news," but almost all of the news is bad in a really big way. Consider these recent entries: "Second grader brings heroin to school," "Texas schools allow teachers to carry guns," and "Student Banned After Setting Teen's Turban on Fire." The blog solicits juicy tips from readers, and it's clear the site has a strong following among teachers who enjoy reading about students worse than their own. There's also a contest that asks teachers to submit their most outrageous or ridiculous detention slips. Telling tales out of school has seldom been this entertaining.

Sample Detention Slip post: Rather than using conventional discipline or techniques you've learned in training, taping a kids mouth shut sounds like something an 18-year veteran teacher would try and get away with. Too bad his parents, administration, and the school board look poorly upon something like this.

Entry you'll never see: A new nationwide survey reveals that the country's K-8 students are smarter and better behaved than any previous generation on record.