teaching
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A Query
When one returns a student’s work with the message, “You failed this assignment because your essay is much too short,” and the student replies, “Miss I don’t understand, I failed my essay because it is too short?”, why does one feel a surge of fury? Why does one not just feel a gentle throb of Continue reading
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How Do I Get Out of the Way?
I was standing in front of my classroom yesterday and I had a professional existential crisis. My students had walked into their first exam of the semester in various states of tension, resignation and hope, and a couple of them seemed uncomfortable to the point of rudeness – sticking their legs out into the aisle and Continue reading
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The Last Test and Proof
If I were to ask, What should be at the center of our teaching and our student’s learning, what would you respond? Of the many tasks that we as educators take up, what, in your view, is the most important task of all? What is our greatest hope for the young people we teach? In Continue reading
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What Do Students Need to Learn About Learning?
If I could change one thing about the education system, particularly the pre-university and professional college system in which I work, it would be this: Students would learn a lot more about learning. I have a fantasy in which I go back to school to do a doctorate in educational psychology, and then I overhaul Continue reading
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A Book Blog For Teachers
Friend and reader Tara Warmerdam just pointed me to her wonderful blog, A Reading Corner for Teachers and Writers. I’m so glad she did: she writes about books in a way that is meant to be helpful to teachers, and it really is. Some recent posts discuss a great book about teaching Shakespeare to young people, using picture books in Continue reading
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What’s the Use of the Academic Paper?: Blogiversary Post #9
I’m still asking myself this question – “Is the academic paper the best way for students to demonstrate their learning?” – three years after publishing the original version of this post. In the interim, I’ve listened to the audiobook of Now You See It (discussed below), and I’m still not sure whether I’m onside with Davidson’s Continue reading
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The Art of Cold Calling: Blogiversary Post #7
I’ve had some heated discussions about whether “cold calling” is good practice. When I posted about it a couple of years ago, the post got a lot of comments and got passed around a lot. What are your thoughts? Is it a good idea to spring questions on students out of the blue? Does it help Continue reading
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A Course Plan for Literary Appreciation and Analysis: Blogiversary Post #6
I struggle with conflicting philosophies about my job. I teach English literature (as well as language and composition) as core curriculum in CEGEP, a transitional/professional college that all Quebec students must attend before moving on to university or to many professions. My classes are therefore comprised of students of wildly varying levels of ability and interest Continue reading
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Triumph Over Burnout: Blogiversary Post #4
At the beginning of the new school year, some of us feel refreshed and eager; others, not so much. If you’re filled with dread at the thought of vacation’s end (not the ordinary oh-I-wish-I-could-read-novels-on-the-deck-forever dread, but the more acute why-am-I-doing-this-with-my-life dread), then maybe it’s time to re-evaluate: is teaching really what you want to do? For Continue reading
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Why Do I Have To Learn This? Blogiversary Post #3
I asked my students to read the essay I discuss in this post, and to explain which of Menand’s three “theories” they subscribed to. Their responses were mixed. Then they asked me which theory I believed in, and I was unable to give them a definitive answer. Almost three years later, I’m still not sure. What about you? This, 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 