society
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Rolling in the Girls’ Room
Yesterday, the following conversation occurred on my personal Facebook page. * Siobhan: Am I an old fuddy-duddy because I just emailed Security about the two boys and their girlfriend sitting on the counter in the women’s washroom rolling a massive joint? Am I less of a fuddy-duddy because, after I kicked them out and found Continue reading
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Top 10 Posts of 2010
For your reading and catch-up pleasure, I have once again compiled a “year’s top posts” list. These posts are “top” in that they got the most hits; in some cases this may have been because of timing, a well-chosen keyword, or fluke, but in some cases I think it’s because they truly were the best Continue reading
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My Top 10 Books of 2010
I encourage you all to make your own lists, either in the comments below or on your own blog (please post the link in the comments) because of course I don’t already have enough unread books in my house. Note: These books were not necessarily published in 2010, but they were part of my 2010 Continue reading
a visit from the goon squad, amy ignatow, books, brian k vaughan, cathleen schine, david nicholls, graphic novels, jeannette walls, jennifer egan, jonathan franzen, literature, memoirs, ms hempel chronicles, novels, personal, reading, sarah shun-lien bynum, society, tana french, the glass castle, the imperfectionists, the likeness, the popularity papers, the three weissmanns of westport, tom rachman, y the last man, young adult fiction -
Literary Appreciation + Literary Analysis: A Course Plan
Regular commenter Crystal has asked for some more details about my Personal Narrative course, in which I focus less on literary analysis and more on literary appreciation. Here’s some general info on how the course unfolds. Feel free to steal/adapt/query, etc. Module 1: Literary Analysis Review Text: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls In the Continue reading
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On Teaching in Limbo
On Teaching in Limbo: A Composite “You teach English littérature at CEGEP?” She stubs out her cigarette. “That is a job that shouldn’t exist.” She’s on her balcony and I’m on mine. She’s just home from work and is in full, meticulous makeup; she models for a popular magazine for femmes d’un certain âge. “One.” Continue reading
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What Does Learning Look Like?
My “personal narrative” class is going great. We started by reading Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, and they seemed to like it. A lot. Most of them did the reading and participated actively in the group work, and after a little talk to them about “what to do if you HAVEN’T done the reading and Continue reading
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Ring in the New Year with the Education Buzz
Carol over at Bellringers has done a bang-up job of putting together post #2 of the Education Buzz, her new incarnation of the Education Carnival. If you’re feeling a bit uninspired about heading into the new school year, here’s your chance to hang out with a few other teachers and read their erudite thought on Continue reading
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I Like My High School
If you read the world’s best fashion magazine – I Like My Style – then you will have seen their spread on the High School of Fashion Industries, a vocational high school in NYC that, according to its website, “devotes itself entirely to the world of fashion from styling and design through business and marketing.” Continue reading
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Ten Wonderful Things, Part Four: Harry Potter
The fourth of ten things I loved about teaching this past semester. 4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone I’ve been doing a lot of reading about reading lately. Since I began teaching CEGEP, I’ve become aware of a problem that directly influences everything I do (or, at least, it should) but I don’t know Continue reading
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Ten Wonderful Things, Part Three: Early Mornings
At least ten things went right this semester. This is the third one. 3. Early Morning Classes A few semesters ago, I requested the “early schedule” (8 a.m. – 4 p.m., as opposed to 10 a.m – 6 p.m.) for the first time. I had been relegated to the early schedule fairly often in my Continue reading
About Me
My job is to teach people to read and write; aside from that, I like to learn things.
Classroom as Microcosm 