English Companion Ning

Where English teachers go to help each other

Jim Burke
  • 48
  • San Francisco
  • United States
Online Now
Share 

Jim Burke's Friends

Jim Burke's Discussions

Are too many kids taking AP classes?
73 Replies

Started this discussion. Last reply by Tom Thompson Jan 3.

Kylene Beers' 2009 NCTE Presidential Address
1 Reply

Started this discussion. Last reply by Jon Hampton Dec. 19, 2009.

 

Jim Burke's Homepage

Latest Activity

yesterday
on Monday
Responding to Suzanne's comment: Twain said, 'I find it easier to be moral on a full stomach" (or something to that effect). Also this: I read from the Bhaghavad Gita and the New Testament today and both would validate the general sense of what Bill…
on Monday
I am currently in the middle of a credentialing program, I had a wonderfully successful first student teaching placement and am looking forward to another. I have been reflecting on why my first placement was so successful, I think it really boils…
on Monday

Profile Information

Where do you work?
Burlingame High School
Choose all that apply to your job
High School English Teacher, Author
What is your Delicious or Diigo ID?
jburke1129 (Delicious)
What is your Skype ID
jimburke1129
What is your Twitter ID
englishcomp
What is your blog, wiki, or website URL?
www.englishcompanion.com
What are you reading?
Alice in Wonderland; always: New Yorker
How do you define your role/work?
To develop in my students the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in and enjoy life.

Visit englishcompanion.com

In addition to this Ning, I have created both a blog and a website for English teachers. Check them out by clicking on the links. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Comment Wall (74 comments)

You need to be a member of English Companion Ning to add comments!

Join this Ning Network

At 9:04am on January 4, 2010, Sarah Neiss said…
Thanks Jim, I wish I had found this earlier. It's amazing! Love your books!

-Sarah
At 11:32am on January 3, 2010, Kathleen Cecil said…
Jim, sent out a bunch of invites yesterday and am finding people are joining the ning but not the group I set up and the discussion is happening individually and not visible to others...is there a place that explains he different options i.e. forum, group, blog etc...Kathleen
At 3:40am on January 2, 2010, Rosemary Crawford said…
I have been loving the site, but am still learning to navigate it. I just accidentally deleted a post to my discussion group. Is there any way to get it back so that I can reply? -Rosemary
At 1:53am on December 30, 2009, Maria Mesejo said…
Hello Jim,

Thank you for your welcoming! i hope this social network will help me in developming my teaching skills and to be an active member.

Have a nice New Year's Eve.

Maria
At 1:43pm on December 29, 2009, Mark Childs said…
Hi Jim,

Hope you had a good week, it looks like you've been blogging with a vengeance!

Per my earlier comment, the contrast between font and background is still a little muted for me but if other people are happy then it's not a huge issue. I find it hard to beat good old black & white for legibility.

Best,
Mark
At 2:26am on December 27, 2009, Ramon Tovar said…
Jim,
Is there any way to repost that student quote one more time? It was very touching and it made me think of my purpose in education. We are here to nurture the souls of our students. Thanks and God Bless.
At 6:17am on December 24, 2009, Meredith S said…
Hmmmm... tried to post this as a comment on your Alice in Wonderland post on your blog but no luck getting the links to show up.

Do you know the Alice Project? Christian Long (@ChristianLong on Twitter), a HS English teacher in Texas, and his students created it. Here's a description of the project and a link to the main page for it. Christian assembled a panel of 35 judges to evaluate the students' work using diigo. Very cool stuff.
At 8:47am on December 21, 2009, Bill Maniotis said…
I think if we approached him as a NING he would be very interested. He feels like the "establishment" won't listen to him at all, so if he thought a professional group like ours took him seriously, he might well lead the discussion. Next summer is a good idea. I'll try to contact the Core Knowledge foundation to see what their thoughts are. Your name might carry more weight than mine though. I'll keep you posted.
At 4:39am on December 21, 2009, Linda Woodard said…
Cogratulations on this well-deserved award. I knew this site was very special the first day I joined it. You must feel like a "proud poppa"! :-) And I agree with Paul that you need to take a BREAK (even a mini-one)! Have a good holiday.
At 11:50pm on December 20, 2009, Rachel Ernst said…
Hi Jim,

As a frequent reader, the green really hurts my eyes and makes it difficult to read. If anything, I'll actually have to do work now during my prep instead of catching up with the latest conversations. :-) I liked the old colors because they were fairly calming and neutral. I didn't "see" them, if that makes sense. I saw the content. With the new colors, you see the design before the content.

Thanks for always trying to stretch the community and try new things. I appreciate your risk!
 
 

Latest Activity

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…
4 minutes ago
It seems like a lot of kids don't care for details. Spelling, anyone? I have had the same problem especially with the transfer. You would think that after teaching students how to use parenthetical citation and then correcting their mistakes on thei…
4 minutes ago
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…
5 minutes ago
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…
8 minutes ago
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…
12 minutes ago
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…
20 minutes ago
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…
22 minutes ago
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.
25 minutes ago
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…
33 minutes ago
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.
40 minutes ago
Ryan Rish Inviting my pre-service teachers @OSU to join Bill Kist's ECN book club as part of our class, Laboratory Experiences in English Education.
55 minutes ago
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…
55 minutes ago
Judith-- One opportunity is Teen Ink (http://www.teenink.com). This is a publication for teens only, ages 13-19, to submit and publish their work. The one draw back I found is that once accepted, Teen Ink keeps all rights to the work. This means ki…
1 hour ago
Bill, You have it wrong. I didn't say the theory has not had wide influence. I never said anything like that. I agree that it has had wide influence. What I said was I've never heard of teachers labeling themselves as constructivists or nonconstruct…
1 hour ago
Alan Sitomer added a blog post
The Ugly Truth is that my number one goal for my students right now has to be to raise their 2010 standardized test scores. I find it disturbing, off-base, heart-wrenching, and almost something shameful to admit. However, NCLB has my entire school'…
1 hour ago
Kathy added a discussion
I am in search of a novel set during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era. It will be used in a 10th grade history class; most of the students are struggling readers. The teacher would like to stay away from the "big name classics." He wants something…
1 hour ago

Badge

Loading…
 

© 2010   Created by Jim Burke on Ning.   Create a Ning Network!

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy  |  Terms of Service