teaching
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Looking for Thoughts on Waiting for Superman
Last week I finally saw Waiting for “Superman,” and I found it both compelling and suspect. As a post-secondary Canadian teacher, I find myself unable to evaluate the validity of the questions posed or the answers suggested by this film. Are charter schools the answer to the US’s educational woes? (Or ours?) Will merit pay Continue reading
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In Which Siobhan Does Not Lose Her Temper Over Important Literary and Pedagogical Matters
Is non-fiction less “literary” than fiction? Someone has suggested to me that it is, and I’m so mad about it I could spit. Last week, I attended a meeting with English teachers from several colleges. We were there to give feedback to the creators of some online essay-writing activities. We looked at some sample exercises, Continue reading
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Character = Behavior: A Lesson Plan
Two parallel experiences over the last couple of weeks have culminated in a lesson plan that I may need to add to my permanent roster. First, I’ve been meeting with students to look at their first at-home essay. Their essays have to include a discussion of characterization, but it’s clear that many of them are Continue reading
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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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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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Why Teachers Need Something Better Than Microsoft Word
Onscreen grading is a revelation. I have resisted the transition from paper grading to onscreen grading for a while now. I experimented last fall with having students submit a paragraph online once in a while, but I was reluctant to use Track Changes tools, as I knew most students weren’t familiar with them, and so 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
About Me
My job is to teach people to read and write; aside from that, I like to learn things.
Classroom as Microcosm 