Read It and Weep!

WHAT I WANT TO KNOW:
1. If promotion and remediation doesn't get struggling students caught up, and retention and remediation makes it worse, WHAT WORKS?
2. Between these two options, which is better: short snippets of free choice reading every day (five minutes or so) or longer chunks, but not every day (half an hour, one day a week)? I've been doing 10 minutes every day (we have 90-min blocks).
3. How do I get parents engaged in what's going on at school?
4. Why are current vital story concepts (internal consistency, setup/payoff, expository dialogue) ignored in HS curriculum?


My Current Dirty Dozen

1. You should always be kind. No matter what.
2. You should always work hard. No matter what.
3. You should usually follow directions, and you should always make sure you're prepared to accept the consequences when you don't.
4. Reading doesn't have to suck. Even if you've always hated reading in the past, you can find reading materials you enjoy.
5. "Truth vs. falsehood" does not simply parallel "information vs. imagination."
6. You have ideas of value, and they're worth sharing.
7. What you believe matters, so consider the support behind ideas before claiming them.
8. "Being yourself" sometimes means "being different." Sometimes.
9. The choice between doing something for yourself and doing something for others is often difficult and almost always important, and it's a decision that should always be made carefully.
10. Others are more likely to take you seriously when you communicate your ideas in a way that shows a good understanding of language conventions and literary techniques.
11. Cause and effect is not a one-step process, but a chain of inter-related actions and events.
12. You should always consider the possible consequences of speaking or acting (and of not speaking or acting) before you do so.

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