society
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When You Are Uncool
This week, I finally got around to reading the NY Times Sunday Magazine’s yearly “College Issue,” which came out at the end of September. This year’s issue focuses on teaching, so I set it aside with the intention of reading it carefully when I could bear to think about teaching. I’m on sabbatical, so I’ve Continue reading
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how are you plugged? a survey on digital tools
I’m doing some research on the use of electronic/digital tools for teachers, and I’m particularly interested in anecdotal experiences. If you’d like to help me out, please take a minute to answer one/some/all of the questions below, either in the comments section (preferred!) or in an email to siobhancurious@gmail.com a) What electronic / digital / Continue reading
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spare the rod: part two: primary vs. secondary relationships
To clarify the shift in my thinking, let me point out an important development that has taken place in my relationship to my profession. My first teaching job was as an assistant English teacher at a tiny French primary school outside Ottawa. I was nineteen, and had just left my home province for the first Continue reading
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spare the rod: part one
It has become clear to me that many of my students need a firm hand. Now, why you would reach the age of 17 or 18, make the decision to come to college, and still need a punitive nanny standing over you and telling you how to behave in the classroom is beyond me. Why the Continue reading
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back on the horse
It’s been over a month since I’ve posted. I’ve been revelling in the first real vacation I feel I’ve had in years. No working on the novel, no thinking about teaching unless absolutely required, not much prep except tweaking course outlines, cutting and pasting course packages, and reading Angela’s Ashes. It’s been a necessary but Continue reading
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Ethnic Identity Formation in Adolescents
According to one theory, there are three important phases of ethnic identity formation: a phase where ethnic identity is not explored or considered important; a phase where individuals begin to explore their ethnic roots; and a phase where ethnicity takes an important place in the individual’s self-concept. The theory argues that a strong sense of Continue reading
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Characteristics of Adolescent Thinking
There are four important characteristics that distinguish adolescent thinking from more mature thinking: adolescent egocentrism (intense preoccupation with one’s own feelings and lack of connection to feelings of others), imaginary audience (the belief that one is the focus of others’ thinking and attention), personal fable (the belief that no one else can possibly understand one’s Continue reading
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Identity Achievement and Emerging Adulthood
Emerging adults need to be recognized for who and where they are. They also need to be encouraged to recognize themselves for who and where they are, and not be too hard on themselves. Many CEGEP students seem to feel that they need to be more focused and committed than would be adaptive at this Continue reading
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Moral Reasoning and Empathic Orientation in Adolescents
Nancy Eisenberg’s model of moral development is based on the assertion that most children’s and adolescents’ moral dilemmas involve a choice between serving one’s own interests and those of others. She divides moral reasoning into four stages: hedonistic orientation (concern with one’s own pleasure), needs-oriented orientation (concern with others’ need for help), stereotyped approval-focused orientation Continue reading
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A Little from Column A, a Little from Column B
Tell me, does this make for a good first day? Or not? 1. Before I’d even arrived at my office, a student showed up at my door and, when I turned out not to be there, asked my colleagues in the surrounding offices whether it would be worth her while to come to my class 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 