After more than 30 years as a journalist, I decided in the spring of 2015 to make a leap I'd long talked about and go into teaching. My career in magazines and websites was rewarding in many ways, but I wanted my next act to be something that had a more direct impact on young people.

Among the biggest influences in my life were the best teachers I had in high school (thanks, Mr. P. and Father Tom). They opened my eyes to a world much bigger than the one I knew, and they gave me the push I needed to go exploring. If I can help some of my students half as much as my teachers helped me, I'll have done a fine job.

As an editor I jumped back and forth between print and digital for nearly 20 years. I'm no technologist, but as a teacher I hope to learn to use all manner of tools to build a classroom where my kids will be psyched to read closely, think critically, and express themselves clearly.

Having spent most of my career deciding who gets hired and what subects they get paid to write about, I'm also deeply curious about how well our schools, and our teacher instruction, prepare kids for the world of work and for the responsibilities of citizenship.

I'll chronicle what I find, and do some writing about good writing, in this space.