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Jen P's Discussions
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Thanks so much, Jenna! These are all very helpful in getting me started.
I would love to see any resources you are willing to share! petroelje@smccd.edu
Many thanks!
I've been using Ning this year with my students and overall, have been pretty pleased. I'm using it with three classes -- all on one ning, but separated into three groups.
There are a few things I don't like:
~ kids 'friending' each other -- then th…
I will be teaching this for the first time to a group of seniors. I'm thinking of starting it when we get back in January, when they are still relatively fresh -- before senioritis really sets in. I'm starting my second reading of the book now in pr…
I led discussions for the first few chapters, then assigned them in pairs to led discussions on the remaining chapters -- one chapter a day. Some pairs do a page by page summary & analysis, others get more creative and do Jeopardy-style games -- mor…
What about White Tiger (Adiga)?
Sorry -- I missed this post earlier, so what I have to share is too late, but I used the graphic novel versions of Kafka's super short stories and the Metamorphosis by Peter Kuper (?) with great success this year. I also use Kafka to introduce biogr…
My seniors LOVED "The Lanyard"
http://fora.tv/2008/04/07/A_Selection_of_Poems_by_Billy_Collins#Billy_Collins_Reads_The_Lanyard
There were a couple of others that we watched from this reading that they really enjoyed.
Are you having your 6th graders respond to the articles in a similar way to the high schoolers? I'm working on setting something up for my 7th and 8th grade English classes and would be curious what your directions and activities end up looking like.
AoW 11-30 --
Editorial, Los Angeles Times
Christian leaders' stance on civil disobedience is dangerous: Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox leaders are going too far when they declare they will break laws on abortion and same-sex marriage.
November 28…
Here's one on homeless teens from the New York Times two weeks ago.
My partner's article for last week and mine for this week.
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- High School English Teacher
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- Crime and Punishment, Reading as Exploration, Essential Pleasures
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Comment Wall (17 comments)
- At 11:30am on October 24, 2009,
Emily C. Knight said… - I'm thinking of starting BNW this next week. I was thinking of starting them with a discussion along those lines. Any articles or ideas would help.
Thanks.
- At 5:50pm on October 13, 2009,
Emily C. Knight said…
- Thanks for the validation. It's not quite falling asleep in the middle of class, but yeah, I think I'm going to go with my gut and just start doing theme units instead of chronological ones. I think I will probably do Macbeth and even though I love 1984, I have copies of BNW in the room so I'll probably do Huxley instead. At the school I'm at, it's quite out of the ordinary for students to have to purchase their own novels. Any recommendations or resources to make it relevant to these kids would definitely be appreciated.
Thanks again.
As a new teacher, you have no idea how helpful it is to be able to get advice and suggestions from everyone here!
- At 6:46pm on September 26, 2009,
Emily C. Knight said…
- I was going to teach 1984 towards the end of the year. This being my first year, I structured my curriculum chronologically, like the textbook is set up....I'm not sure that was a good choice. I love 1984 and Brave New World, but right now, we're stuck in the Middle Ages with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. After this unit, I'm thinking of doing Macbeth.
- At 1:35pm on September 26, 2009,
Emily C. Knight said…
- Hello!
you left a comment on one of my posts back in June and said that you'd be willing to share any appropriate lessons once I find out what I'm teaching.
Well, right now, I'm struggling with Senior British Literature. My school is 90% African American in rural South Carolina--it's a weird amalgamation of deep south country and urban music and attitudes.
Do you have any lessons for British Literature? (I'm also teaching American Literature and that's doing better than British).
My kids are really struggling with the Anglo-Saxon stuff we've done so far, I'm wondering if I just need to throw out anything old and switch to just modern stuff.
Any ideas would be extremely helpful! Thanks!
- At 9:24am on July 1, 2009,
Andy Fisher said… - By the way - just finished 'The Geography of Bliss' - I really enjoyed it :)
- At 9:24am on July 1, 2009,
Andy Fisher said…
- Hi Jen - yes that sounds great. So my academic term starts in early september and we'll be studying 'Pi' for about 6 weeks before moving onto 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. I will have a group of 12/13 A level students (17/18 year olds) and it would be great to collaborate. The ning I've set up - www.lifeofpi.ning.com is open access so please do sign up and let's get things going! Over the summer I'll be looking to gather resources and will post as much as I can on there.
I was also thinking of putting a couple of podcasts together as study aids - perhaps we could bounce things like that back and forth? let me know what you think :) Great to hear from you
Andy x
- At 8:50pm on June 25, 2009,
glenda funk said… - Jen,
I haven't forgotten about "Life of Pi" and wanted you to know!
- At 12:33pm on June 22, 2009,
glenda funk said…
- Be happy to share Life of Pi resources. I'll need a little time to find them. They're on several different flash drives! I'm in summer school but will be home next week, so give me a few days to get materials together.
- At 4:13pm on April 18, 2009,
Kelli Nicholson said… - Thanks, Jen. I have the Good Poems anthologies. They are responsible for causing me to fall in love with poetry.
- At 6:48am on April 16, 2009,
Gary Anderson said… - I'm glad to know the sample copy process is working! Chapter 12 and some of the others might also be useful to you. If you have any questions or feedback about the book, please let me know. You're also welcome to comment here on the ning.
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Yay Doug! He was one of my teachers in pre-teaching grad school (itp.nyu.edu), and I'm a huge fan of his work. Thanks for posting this, Frank. I'm really excited to see what these guys have come up with this time.
I am looking for opportunities for high school students to publish their writing. I am in VT. We are part of the NWP and can certainly offer that to our students. I know about the Mountain Review, but I would really appreciate other venues where stu…
Oh, a marvelous poem, Carol -- by one of my favorite poets. In graduate school far back in the 60's, I took a creative writing class from Bly at the University of Kansas, and have never forgotten it. Thanks for the connection.
I actually do have a plan (I also have a yearly book filled with objectives). I just can't say I have a detailed plan. I found it easier to plan for 90 minute block lessons than the 45 minutes we have at this school which makes me feel like I am in…
Oh I do! I just had a tutorial with a final year student, who thank me for introducing her to philosophy. It's just that the rest of it sucks up so much time.
Andy,
The fact that you have not heard of it doesn't mean the theory has not had a wide influence. Nearly every school of education in America now promotes "constructivist" ideas, and it is why many of our student teachers are not receiving some of…
How about this for a poetic connection to your posting, Hamilton?
Gratitude to Old Teachers by Robert Bly
When we stride or stroll across the frozen lake,
We place our feet where they have never been.
We walk upon the unwalked. But we are uneasy.…
I really think that PDFs kick SOOO much butt compared to .mobi Kindle Books or any other text with DRMs.
... and xboxes can make lovely computers if you know how to hack them. But that's also illegal. ;)
My husband has a bebook, which will read PDFs and some other formats... I don't know if it does text files or not.
And yet many teachers would grade "gentle seductions" harshly and comment that they "take too long to get to the point" or "meander." It just goes to show the huge chasm that exists between persuasive essays taught in the "Cookie-Cutter School of Es…
While it may be true that in reality there are not that many people reading student work on the Web (who but an English teacher could love a character analysis of Scout Finch??), I wonder if that really matters.
I suspect it does matter. I think it…
"the thesis came too soon"
You are really onto something here, Maja. Why would an authentic audience read on if a writer gave away the point in the first sentence. Most writing, particularly persuasive writing, is a gentle seduction. Follow my thin…
I did an exercise in which my students had to write the same story four times, each time with a different point of view. You could tell which students understood the concept and which didn't pretty easily.
Thanks for this activity, it supplements m…
I do agree that most "great" works of literature tend to be more serious than funny. Even though it's about the bombing of Dresden, Slaughterhouse-Five is pretty funny at times. Catcher in the Rye is hilarious, as is Cuckoo's Nest and Huck Finn (our…
This doesn't help, but it might make you feel better. Many of my college students still don't get it. They have to do a research paper for their first-year comp class, and even with easybib, citationmachine, and all the other aids -- not to mention…
I liked your idea of going backwards chronologically so have tried it this year. So far, the kids are really enjoying it. One big advantage that I see is that Beowolf and Canterbury Tales, the texts from the earliest periods which are challenging be…
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