Perspective

Up late, marking coursework and tinkering with the blog...

...angry at the students who couldn't even be bothered to put the pages of their project in the right order.

..grumpy at spelling mistakes, laziness, students who haven't even used a ruler and a pencil to do their sketches...

...wondering if my recent posts will enchant or bore new readers who come via the Guardian today....

...chatting with M via e-mail...

And he tells me about the shooting at Virginia Tech.

It's remarkable, the way that I now take the 24 hour a day global news stream for granted.

And it's sobering how easily we in Britain identify with American students; feeling much closer to events than the stories that reach us from other parts of the world. We have spent hours and hours soaking up the iconic American College of pop video, date movie and cult TV show... a mythical place to which our teenagers aspire, with its proms and gangs, cheerleading and cliques.

But suddenly it seems alien, a different planet, full of horrors we cannot understand. I may have to tackle ill discipline and mild aggression, but I hope I will never have to live through something like this.

"Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community." - George Bush

And in a tiny way, even here.
Our thoughts are with you.