Student

April 29, 2011

What Teachers Make

I can’t imagine that there is anyone in America who hasn’t seen Taylor Mali’s video rant.

But just in case, here it is again. In a different version….

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February 28, 2011

Lessons on Slowing Down

People often ask me, as a person who has spent nearly twenty years in the classroom, what I think about AP classes. Should their child take this AP or that AP? And they are often surprised by my my response that nobody gives a shit about AP classes. Really….

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February 24, 2011

NYS Grads Ain't Reddy For College

This is the kind of news story that makes me sad. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: It’s a rough time to be in education….

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January 19, 2011

A Word On Grades

Back when I was in graduate school, we learned that C meant “Average” — and guess what? Most students are average. (Not your kids, of course. Your kids are gifted and talented.)…

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January 17, 2011

If My Kid Writes One More Book Report…

I get it. My school district clearly wants our kids to pass the standardized test.

They want a slice of the pie.

But our kids are dying of boredom….

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December 22, 2010

End of Semester Gratitude

The Fall-Winter 2010 semester is over for me. My grades have been reported. My unattractive yet functional wheelie bag has been dumped of its contents and placed with the rest of the luggage — in the nether regions of the basement. Today, I am getting my hair high-lighted. It has been fifteen weeks since my last highlight or cut. (The straightening thing doesn’t count.) Don’t even ask about the state of my fingernails at the moment. I have a way of letting certain things go during the semester. But now it is time to catch up….

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December 13, 2010

Contemplating Quitting The Classroom

I have been thinking that this will be my last semester in the classroom. It’s been a hard year for a variety of reasons, but I have been thinking I just am not connecting with my students the way I used to. Part of it may be that I am getting older. I have somehow become an “old-fashioned teacher” who doesn’t show movies, rely on Smart Boards or Power Point presentations. In other words, I have always been able to “be my own show,” create my own bells and whistles, and that was enough. I was enough.

This year is different. I feel… old….

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December 6, 2010

End of the Semester Blues

In reality, it is kind of hard to fail my class. I offer a lot of help to students to want it. I make myself available to conference. I allow students who show initiative to revise their papers. I offer extra credit opportunities throughout the semester – just not as an “emergency out” at the end.

I hate watching students unravel at the end of the semester but – the reality is – there are always some who come unstitched….

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May 13, 2010

Should We Let Our Kids Sink Their Own Ships?

It occurred to me that if my son’s teacher had given him a low grade – a really low grade – on any of the assignments leading up to that one, it might have motivated him to change his ways. He’s no grade grubber, but seriously, what motivation is there to change your ways if you’re being rewarded for doing something half-assed?…

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