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Week 3: Finding the Sweet Spot of Instruction Part 2
I love when new teachers joinn the discussion. Let me add that when the day comes that I think I have the job down, that is probably the day I should retire. It is an impossible job. Don't beat yourself up over failure. See failure as an opportunity to get better each year.
I also find it heartening that two recent postings came from teachers who gave Readicide to their principals. Maybe that is the way to effect change.
I also find it heartening that two recent postings came from teachers who gave Readicide to their principals. Maybe that is the way to effect change.
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Permalink Reply by Alison Kirkpatrick on
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I, too, thought the messages of Readicide are so important that I gave copies to my principal, our district's curriculum superintendent, and a fellow teacher who's having hard times financially.
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I'm about to enter my annual playwriting unit, but I feel as though my material is getting "stale." I am looking for suggestions, resources, ideas, sample published one act plays...ANYTHING! If you have an idea or teach this unit please reply! Thank…
Bill writes:
Again, this [not sure of antecedent] leads back to a sore point for me. We have no balance in educational theory anymore--and ideas have consequences. I see the same thing happening in our country's politics...
Again, mere hyperbolic…
Oh, I love "What does it mean to be an 'outsider?'" Awesome question--I hope you will post (or blog about) some of the responses you and your students explore together.
It does sound like you have a firm handle on this. Hooray! I was trained in UBD…
My 12th grade AP students (AP Lit) must choose one book for independent reading during ther spring semester. I began this because I realized that, for many of my students,my class would be their last literature course, and I wanted to broaden their…
Michael writes:
Most often it's [constructivism in practice] not that extreme, but usually it tends to share in the general progressive antipathy to "mere" knowledge and hostility to the "sage on a stage" or any sage anywhere.
This is mere caricat…
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I believe comedy is underrepresented. My students often complain about the depressing works we read (12 grade, but they also say that about previous English courses). We added Much Ado About Nothing a dozen years ago as something of a balance to Ham…
Hi Pat, I have never done these myself, but there are some great examples at VocabAhead Vocab Videos which also contains links to digital resources to help students create their videos. While most of the videos are done professionally, there is at l…
Hi Pat, I have never done these myself, but there are some great examples at VocabAhead Vocab Videos which also contains links to digital resources to help students create their videos. While most of the videos are done professionally, there is at l…
Thanks for your reply -- it was very helpful. I think I understand what you are saying -- kids do try to craft a dazzling sentence, rather than one with insight. And something simple can be insightful. But my concern is really the thinking behind th…
I would say comedy is underrepresented. My students have nicknamed my class "AP Sex & Death" as we tend to go to the dark side. I do try to use some comedy in preparation for a Q3 comedy prompt. We do use A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Color Purple…
Your "rambling" is fantastic. So much good advice. You know, I'm actually looking forward to writing now. I feel like I've got a handle on it.
Thanks for all of your comments.
I really like "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse. It is short and I think very accessible for struggling students. It won the Newberry Medal. Not only did it help me understand what the big deal was about the duststorms of the time, I thought it told…
And what about the fact that often writers don't know what their thesis is until they begin reflecting in writing about a subject or occurrence? Happens to me all the time.
Thank you so much everyone! I definitely have a better feel for how essential questions work. I've been able to brainstorm a few and included a few here. Feel free to tell me if I am way off base.
What does it mean to be an “Outsider”?
What makes…
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