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  • Stations

    I was a big station buff in my formative years. I thought it was the perfect way to do umpteen things at once, to differentiate instruction, shift the class focus to student-centered, and to exploit peer feedback fully.…

  • Sighed projects

    Potential side project topics offered this 9 week grading term: 7 Minimum number of side projects to be submitted to avoid automatic failure: 5 Students who had reached this number at last check (this morning): 1 Appr…

  • A better bribe than pizza

    We had quite the turnout for the writing test pizza party today! After a rather disappointing show last week of only 12 (only 2 of which were mine, including one who'd already passed), my heart was warmed to see 16 shin…

  • Subtleties

    While teaching support and elaboration today, I added a few more steps, specifics, to the formula I'm formulating to guarantee success. I broke down the types of examples, for one: Read (short stories, books--stuff Engl…

  • Side Projects: Reflection

    I remain extremely pleased with the side project way of doing things. Overall I feel that the all-or-none, re-do-it-until-you-get-it-right policy is head and shoulders above the old get-a-grade-and-forget-it set-up. St…

  • English Advancements

    Independent Reading I think a majority of my honors kiddos have already read a book they selected on their own, something they didn't have to have done until January. This tells me a few things. For one, perhaps bookt…

  • Do Nothing Day*

    Last year, I came to grips with the fact that basically nothing can get done on the day before vacation. I have learned to plan accordingly rather than fight it. Despite having scheduled a quiz for today in Spanish (le…

  • Strategy Re-Hash: English Honors

    Text Selection I think that the way I had students choose a story at the beginning of the semester was kind of lame and half-baked. I don't know what it was, but it just wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. Maybe it w…

  • Like a teacher

    This is the most I have ever felt like I was an actual teacher since I started teaching. I'm still procrastinating like one of my students, but I finally feel like I have a clear vision of where I want my kids to end …

  • Midway Modifications: English

    While I remain enamored of the writing contract method of doing things (it's got that organized chaos vibe that really does it for me), there are a few things I want to tweak. For one, the writing contract I had them si…