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Jack Your Thanksgiving Brainypics :)

Ohai. This week's Brainypics contest: THANKSGIVING! (What else?) Here are some examples to get you into the turkey (eating) spirit. :]

http://www.brainyflix.com/flashcards/show/4477

… Continue

Added by Jack on November 23, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Hamilton Salsich SWEET CONVERSE

SWEET CONVERSE “…the sweet converse of an innocent mind, Whose words are images of thoughts refin’d.” --Keats, in the sonnet “O Solitude” I love these lines for many reasons, one of which is that they remind me of some of my English classes. Without doubt, many of my classes over the years have been neither sweet nor “refin’d”, but some of them do bring back memories of gracious discussions and classy ideas. When my students engage in discussions, they try their best to be “innocent”, to use… Continue

Added by Hamilton Salsich on November 23, 2009 at 11:59am — No Comments

Dennis O'Connor How to Introduce the 6-Traits

"Writing taught once or twice a week is just fr… Continue

Added by Dennis O'Connor on November 23, 2009 at 11:11am — No Comments

Dennis O'Connor Wordle: Play with words!

This image was generated by a unique website called… Continue

Added by Dennis O'Connor on November 23, 2009 at 9:30am — 2 Comments

Jack Brainypics: Week 8 Winners

Hi-yo! Here are 5 tough SAT vocab words, taught by our hilarious winners from last week's "Brainypics About Brainypics" contest. As always, choosing them was very tough cause our users are funnaaaay.

http://www.brainyflix.com/flashcards/show/4812

… Continue

Added by Jack on November 23, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

Teri Lesesne thoughts on NCTE

I have posted to my blog about NCTE and the ALAN Workshop here: http://professornana.livejournal.com I also tweeted (ProfessorNana) with the hashtag #NCTE09 Continue

Added by Teri Lesesne on November 23, 2009 at 7:53am — No Comments

Susanne Nobles Still Learning: Next Installment on Diigo

I have been delaying writing this post because I had hoped to be able to work things o… Continue

Added by Susanne Nobles on November 23, 2009 at 6:36am — No Comments

Alan Sitomer Teaching teens is good stuff

As we enter Thanksgiving week it really is a time for me to recognize how much my students mean to me. I truly am a better human being because they are in my life. They make me smile, laugh, hurt, angry, and tear up. They also make me proud, ashamed, hopeful and fearful. And sometimes they do this back to back to back as if it's all ha… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on November 23, 2009 at 5:30am — 1 Comment

Lisa Park NCTE: Sunday session with Wilhelm, Sitomer, Burke

ADOLESCENT LITERACY Audio from NCTE's Sunday session. What a grand finale! A most inspiring, insightful, and informative session with Jeff Wilhelm, Alan Sitomer, Jim Burke - complete with humor. Highly recommended! (Disclaimer: Laughing, snorting, and other noises on audio not me. Just the paper shuffling.) Jeff Wilhelm: NCTE Wilhelm_Jeff2.m… Continue

Added by Lisa Park on November 22, 2009 at 9:04pm — 1 Comment

Paul W. Hankins A Fanboy's Letter of Gratitude. Still a Fanboy. . .but a Grateful Fanboy. . .

In order to summarize my experiences at NCTE Philadelphia, I first have to take you back to NCTE 2006 in Nashville. A third year teacher, I was barely out of the first Summer Institute with my local writing project. I walked about the conference selecting sessions and walking around the exhibition hall mesmerized by the sight of mentors like Tom Romano and Jim Burke. I knew some of these names from my undergraduate studies, but to walk amongst them at the Grand Ole Opry, I just didn’t know what… Continue

Added by Paul W. Hankins on November 22, 2009 at 6:00pm — 1 Comment

Rachel C. NCTE= fantastic

I have to admit I'm pretty excited about this whole 'Ning' thing. And for keeping a blog. Last year I kept one as a brand-new teacher, but I haven't found the time this year to sit down and write. One of the things I was more-or-less convicted about recently (and again through the conference) is if I expect to teach writing to students, I need be an active participant in writing myself. I've never thought of myself as a strong writer, but I have always kept a journal so I guess that counts for s… Continue

Added by Rachel C. on November 22, 2009 at 2:33pm — No Comments

Dana Maloney Junot Diaz -- reading literature through an economic lens

I'm just starting to pack my boxes and make the move from the NCTE Ning to this new place. It's a fun move! The NCTE Ning taught me so much about social networking, but I just found that I wasn't using it actively once the 2008 convention was over. I'm really excited by the ease of resource-sharing available here, in this "next generation" of social networking among us. Part of the power of this is that of maximizing resources -- which is, I guess, an economic idea. Resources are power -- and… Continue

Added by Dana Maloney on November 22, 2009 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Hamilton Salsich A DAILY UNMAPPED RIVER

“Maggie’s destiny, then, is at present hidden, and we must wait for it to reveal itself like the course of an unmapped river; we only know that the river is full and rapid ….” --from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot I make careful plans for my course each summer, and I make detailed lesson plans each day, and yet, underneath it all, I know the “destiny” of my teaching is strictly, in Eliot’s phrase, “an unmapped river”. To stay with the analogy, making plans for classes is like a ri… Continue

Added by Hamilton Salsich on November 22, 2009 at 1:20pm — No Comments

Stephen Krashen NCTE deserves the NCTE Doublespeak Award

The National Council of Teachers of English should award the Doublespeak Award to itself. Stephen Krashen Susan Ohanian http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=612 The NCTE gives The Doublespeak Award is given annually to those "who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered." Previous winners include George W. Bush, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Exxon, the National R… Continue

Added by Stephen Krashen on November 22, 2009 at 1:17pm — No Comments

Cindy Fallsen essays on current topics

With all the talk of health care reform, have you guys broached the subject with your students. Do any of them know what an HSA is? Do they understand the dynamics of Short Term Insurance for people who are self employed? Helping students to articulate their thoughts is part of our task. This seems to be a t… Continue

Added by Cindy Fallsen on November 22, 2009 at 12:51pm — No Comments

Hamilton Salsich "BURN[ING] THROUGH" BOOKS

… for once again the fierce dispute, Betwixt damnation and impassion'd clay Must I burn through; once more humbly assay The bitter-sweet of this Shakespearian fruit. --Keats, “On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once More” When I read these lines again this morning, I realized that this is exactly the way I want my students to read the classic works of literature I assign in class. In their casual reading at home, the kids are accustomed to sailing through books (just as we all do when we’re rea… Continue

Added by Hamilton Salsich on November 22, 2009 at 3:09am — No Comments

Lisa Park Joyce Carol Oates - NCTE Saturday Luncheon

mp3 version of Joyce Carol Oates' speech uploaded below. Joyce Carol Oates was such an engaging speaker! Listen for (1) the balloon metaphor and men's egos (8:35); (2) Twilight and vampires (10:18); (3) the wonderful and honest advice about writing. JCO's advice to writers: 1. Write your heart out about what means so much to you 2. Never be ashamed of your subject and of your passion for your subject 3. Don't be discouraged 4. Read widely - and read everything your favorite author has ever wri… Continue

Added by Lisa Park on November 21, 2009 at 8:00pm — 5 Comments

Melissa Snyder Counsel/advice?

Now I'm conflicted. I have been sitting here, rewatching the 1990 version of "Lord of the Flies", and now I don't know whether I really want to show this film to my advanced 8th grade literature classes next week or not. It's got much more profanity than I remember, and that sort of makes me uncomfortable for 8th graders, even though I have the parents' permission to show it and I'm sure some of these kids have said far worse. I'm just...worried, you know? My gut just doesn't feel right. But I'd… Continue

Added by Melissa Snyder on November 21, 2009 at 3:42pm — 8 Comments

Mark Gardner The most important teaching time is not always the time with the students.

The last few weeks I've been really busting my tail. A month or so ago, I noticed some major problems in my 9th graders' abilities to write effective paragraphs and mini-arguments. The were writing often, but only maybe once a week could I find time to give much feedback--and too often by the time I'd get the… Continue

Added by Mark Gardner on November 21, 2009 at 10:30am — 10 Comments

Alan Sitomer I am privileged to be at NCTE and more should enjoy the same.

Being at NCTE once again proves the point that mandatory conference attendance and professional development needs to become a prime focus if we are really going to elevate the performance of our schools. I can't even begin to cover the amount of dynamic, sound, invigorating and readily appli… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on November 21, 2009 at 5:30am — No Comments

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Latest Activity

Amy Lafty replied to Ron Shapiro's discussion 'Reading Shakespeare: To Read Aloud or Not Read Aloud?' in the group Teaching Texts
Hi! Let them act it out! I have always let my students do this and it has always been a success. Set the rules ahead of time; let them know it's serious stuff and that they can't be in front of the class goofing around. Tell them that as soon as ...
1 minute ago
Maja Wilson replied to Penny Kittle's discussion 'Week 1: Let the writing begin!' in the group ECN Book Group: Write Beside Them
Ah, foundations. That's why I love you and your teaching and writing, Penny. Because you only do what comes from and goes to the core. Not the core standards, mind you, but YOUR core. I realized something (again) about my own foundations yesterda...
15 minutes ago
Amy Lafty replied to ashley shaffer's discussion 'Transcendentalism Unit Ideas' in the group Teaching Texts
HI! I just finished teaching Transcendentalism and my girls loved it. I just gave them a project based on parts of the movie Into the Wild. It is the first time that the majority of my class has started a project way before they had to. I asked t...
16 minutes ago
Jennifer Ansbach left a comment for Daniel Sharkovitz
17 minutes ago
Eileen Williams commented on Dennis O'Connor's blog post 'Wordle: Play with words!'
My students do not have access to a color printer. Do you think it would still be affective to have students make wordles in black and white? I love wordle and I plan at looking at your six traits materals, as well.
20 minutes ago
Amy Lafty added a discussion to the group Teaching Texts
Teaching Emily Dickinson....Help!
I am currently discussing Emily Dickinson's poetry with 11th grade girls. The problem is that I am not a fan of her work. I want the girls to get into it but with my lack of enthusiasm it has been a drag. I want to do some kind of activity with th...
20 minutes ago
tgraff11 thinking that books are a better invention than laptops.
26 minutes ago
tgraff11 replied to tgraff11's discussion 'Social Justice Texts' in the group Teaching Social Justice
Thanks, Elizabeth.
33 minutes ago
Daniel Sharkovitz left a comment for Tara Seale
36 minutes ago
Bill Maniotis replied to Michael Umphrey's discussion 'The Ethics of Authencity: Chapter 9: An Iron Cage?'
There was a better argument made last month by Archbishop Chaput about tax-exempt status and churches that essentially went like this (I think): churches from all faiths do so much good with their charitable work, and do it far cheaper and more ef...
45 minutes ago
Ted Baechtold replied to Ted Baechtold's discussion 'Peer Review and Editin in a Digital Classroom' in the group Using Blogs and Wikis in the English Classroom
Thanks--I will check these out...discovered the simultaneous wiki issue earlier today...
1 hour ago
Meredith S left a comment for Jeff Anderson
1 hour ago
Jennifer Ansbach commented on Alan Sitomer's blog post 'The Conundrum of Handling Student Farts'
Alan, last year I had a girl who was constantly starting the farting. And the fart contests. You could also see her thong, but I'm not sure if there's a cause-effect relationship there... Thanks, Mer, for directing me here. Sorry I missed it!
1 hour ago
Jack added a blog post
Ohai. This week's Brainypics contest: THANKSGIVING! (What else?) Here are some examples to get you into the turkey (eating) spirit. :] And you can start making pics at Brainyflix.
1 hour ago
Mark Smith replied to Michael Umphrey's discussion 'The Ethics of Authencity: Chapter 9: An Iron Cage?'
It's a good article, with a fair amount of balance, and an attempt to provide sources. However I think we need to consider the tax exempt status that most churches enjoy in this country. If you feed from the public trough, you must play by the rul...
1 hour ago
Jennifer Ansbach Thinking about my NCTE friends. :-)
1 hour ago
Dennis O'Connor left a comment for Jim Burke
1 hour ago
Stacey Kerr added a discussion
Protocols for the EC Ning Book Club?
I was just about to dive in an respond to a question that was posted to the Write Beside Them book club group, then decided that I'd keep my mouth shut for a minute and try real hard not to make a fool of myself... So, are there protocols for the...
1 hour ago
Jeanine A. Irons replied to Michele Bellino's discussion 'Looking for Suggestions' in the group Using Discussion in the English Class
I am making the improvement of student discussions a priority in my classroom this year. I like the "I don't get it" "then ask the class a question." I am definitely going to use that.
1 hour ago
Kim McCollum-Clark replied to Meredith S's discussion 'NCTE Resources'
Ditto that, Stacey. I'd love to see a copy or read the speech. Doesn't one of the Council journals print the presidential address? I remember reading Kathleen Blake Yancey's multimodal one in 3C's. (College Composition and Communication).
2 hours ago

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