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  • Last-minute differentiation

    As Mr. Willard, my fearless leader, says, "There are some kids even God couldn't get to pass." These are the only ones I am to permit to earn an F in Spanish I or Spanish II. And so, I have cobbled together a few maneu…

  • My children are running amok

    This is the first time in my entire teaching career--student teaching included--when I have not had to administer the 10th grade writing test. I would have thought I would have some exciting cultural or grammatically en…

  • Re-quiz run-down

    Same quiz, but switched versions: Possessive adjectives still trip them up. All but one did better. Native speakers were spared re-taking for ESL test. I don't plan on calling every single kid who failed this time: Sixty…

  • Testing limits

    I have done a phenomenal job of staying in touch with parents this semester so far, if I do say so myself. Granted, I've only really gotten through responses to first period's "million words or less" e-mails (none of th…

  • Scantron Mama

    For years, I was an assessment purist. I rode the "authentic assessment" and "higher order thinking skills" waves with the conviction of a competitive surfer. I sneered at the scantron machine in the corner rather tha…

  • Measures

    Despite a last-minute extra credit review opportunity, despite a sneaky see-if-you're-reading-the-directions extra credit opportunity embedded in one set of directions, it still looks like most of these boogers failed th…

  • Progress report

    I found myself baffled by the numbers after the first Spanish II test last week. While about 40% of my first period class found themselves in the 80-99% range (thus constituting the largest "clump" of grades in that cla…

  • Grading made uneasy

    Since Sr. Edwards threatened to take away our zeros and made us read that Tom Marzano book, I've been forced to reconsider my grading practices. These days, between the Science Goddess proclaiming a blissful relationshi…

  • Worst Best Teacher Ever

    Tuesday, I was the best teacher ever, for like 2 class periods. I got to spend the better part of first period extolling the virtues of my school, as a select few of us were interviewed for beating the "odds" (which, ac…

  • 21 Hug Day

    Today I got up extra early, purportedly to finish grading the Social Issues projects I got on Wednesday, but really to finish my "love notes" to the kiddos and finalize the survey I almost forgot to finish making. Even …