An archived stack of papers: 'students'
Was This A Good Or Bad Year?
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Jun
- 04
- 2011
I don’t know where you are in the school year, but we finished a week ago. There are a ton of other things going on in life right now, so I haven’t even started processing how the year went. A big part that I certainly did not like about this past year is that I rarely reflected on classroom experiences here, on this blog. That could be a strong reason why my first impression of this past... read more
WCIDSWT
In a stack of papers called Connections.
- Sep
- 28
- 2010
Why Can’t I Do Something With This?
Good lord, WCYDWT is such a good idea that I want to use it for English. I walk around with a camera, too. I also enjoy my job more today than I ever have. I likewise want to share my passion for not just English but many other subjects. All I end up snapping shots of, though, are misused apostrophes and... read more
Like It Never Even Happened
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Mar
- 09
- 2010
You have a student that’s rough. If you’re unfortunate and like the majority of us, you have more than one. This is a student who just keeps pushing your buttons and making life difficult for you. Or maybe this is a student who doesn’t do anything. That kind of passive aggressive behavior is taxing, too. This could be a student who is obnoxious, acting far younger than she should.... read more
What I Won’t Do This Year
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Aug
- 15
- 2009
Collect writing and then ignore it for a month. Expect study questions answered every night. Give daily reading check quizzes worth tons of points. Skip grading blogs on a Saturday morning. Wait until April to institute a classroom after-school writing lab. Circle every single grammatical error on a given page. Assign just one piece of writing that involves student conferencing and that happens to be... read more
Dear You
In a stack of papers called Reform.
- Aug
- 09
- 2009
Dear Students:
Hi. Welcome to a new year and a new day! This is going to be the one when you do all those great things you’ve always wanted to do, when you’ll prove everyone wrong, when all your teachers will help instead of hinder you, when you’ll become an interesting person by being interested in lots of things, when you’ll realize that you have more control over your... read more
Patterns And Shapes
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- May
- 06
- 2009
The Support class settles down into a rhythm once I put on the video to take notes to (Tuesday, Thursday) or announce that it’s time to read (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). The same happens most days that I point out a Do First on the board. The time when they are the most out of control and, therefore, the most difficult to get back for the rest of the period are the times when I don’t have... read more
They Don’t Know
In a stack of papers called Writing.
- Apr
- 23
- 2009
Sample videos. Model paragraphs. Professional sentences. Anchor papers. Published works. Student drafts.
Students read them. They vote on which is best. They talk about why they like them. They find identifying characteristics that explain what one does better than the other. Dead silent classes and phrases straight off a rubric that are meaningless, this almost never changes the way students... read more
Feeling The Crisis
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Mar
- 28
- 2009
I don’t know about you, but I have a truckload of students who are suffering from the current financial crisis. Mom and dad are struggling to pay the mortgage, the bank is foreclosing, boxes are jam packed as they get ready to move tomorrow, students suddenly know far too much about what a short sale is, and school suddenly seems terribly distant. Writing that essay about a theme seen in One... read more
Two In One
In a stack of papers called Unorganized.
- Oct
- 21
- 2008
Referrals are not my preferred method. I’ve written maybe twenty referrals in my entire teaching career. I feel like it’s a cop out, like I’m passing the buck for discipline that I should really be the one to take care of. I wrote out two referrals today, an action that just doubled the amount of referrals I’ve written so far this year (and the third I’ve written... read more
No Idea
In a stack of papers called Instruction.
- Sep
- 19
- 2008
I have no idea what I’m doing. No idea.
When I close that door, I’m on my own. I’ve got fifty-three minutes with a group of thirty kids who want entertainment if they want anything. I need to take those kids wherever they are and help them improve by the time they walk out the door. I need to give them at least one new idea today and one reason to come back tomorrow.
I... read more