technology
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Fiction Makes You Better at Stuff
I’m planning some research on whether reading/studying fiction and other kinds of narrative is really such an important thing to do. I was therefore immediately drawn to this article (even though it’s Saturday night and I’m desperately trying to finish grading a stack of papers): a commentary on why techie geeks should read fiction. Is Continue reading
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Bye-bye, Google Reader
As many of you know, Google Reader is shutting down on Monday. I haven’t used it in years, but I’m sure some of you still do. If you need a new platform for following Classroom as Microcosm, here are a few options. Look in the right-hand column. See the button that says “Sign me up”? Continue reading
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Classroom Blogging
I’m having my students keep blogs again. I’m both excited and wary. Student blogs are a lot more fun to read than papers, but they’re also more difficult to evaluate. The setup process has gone fairly smoothly so far, but it’s still been a lot of work. Reading a ton of blog posts every week Continue reading
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Top 10 Posts of 2011
It’s that time of year again. (Actually, it’s a little past that time of year – it was that time of year, oh, two weeks ago, when it was still last year.) Nevertheless: a roundup! Here are the posts from Classroom as Microcosm that received the most hits this year. The reasons for their popularity Continue reading
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How to Cheat
So I came across this Wikihow site the other day. It details 120 ways to cheat on a test. Does this say something about: a) kids these days? b) human nature? c) the inevitable descent into absolute amorality/immorality for which the internet will prove responsible? d) a revolution in human thinking that I’m too old and prissy Continue reading
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“Either You Can Be a Teacher or You Can Be the Plagiarism Police”
As the new semester creeps nearer, I’m starting to think about plagiarism again. My use of Turnitin.com, a plagiarism-detection software, is helping me relax a bit – last semester, the software made discovering plagiarism, and talking to students about it, a lot easier. However, cheating is a perennial source of anxiety for most teachers, and a 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 