10-second review: The purpose of most rubrics—statements that describe the good paper, average paper and poor paper, etc.—are usually designed for quick and easy assessment. The author suggests how to give them more meaning to students.
Title: “Scoring Rubrics and the Material Conditions of our Relations with Students.” D Martins. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (December 2008), 123-137. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: The Author suggests that teachers develop the rubrics in collaboration with the students. Could change the teacher’s initial ideas on the purpose and format of the rubric.
Comment: Makes sense to me. RayS.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Topic: Professional Writing
10-second review: Submitted articles to this journal, Teaching English in Two-Year Colleges, are subjected to “blind review.” What is “blind review” and why is it used?
Title: “The Limits of Blind Review.” J. Sommers, ed. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (December 2008), 121. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Summary/Quote: “…‘blind review’ of a journal means that each manuscript will be sent [to reviewers] without any identifiers so that reviewers do not factor into their decision the identity or even the academic affiliation of the authors. Thus each manuscript stands on its own merits, separated from any influence that knowing the author’s name or affiliation might have on readers.” p. 121.
Summary: The author enjoys sending acceptances to writers whose work will be published, but has a more difficult time writing to those whose manuscripts are rejected—or need revision for possible re-evaluation. As much as possible, the editor says, he asks for revision. RayS.
Title: “The Limits of Blind Review.” J. Sommers, ed. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (December 2008), 121. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Summary/Quote: “…‘blind review’ of a journal means that each manuscript will be sent [to reviewers] without any identifiers so that reviewers do not factor into their decision the identity or even the academic affiliation of the authors. Thus each manuscript stands on its own merits, separated from any influence that knowing the author’s name or affiliation might have on readers.” p. 121.
Summary: The author enjoys sending acceptances to writers whose work will be published, but has a more difficult time writing to those whose manuscripts are rejected—or need revision for possible re-evaluation. As much as possible, the editor says, he asks for revision. RayS.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Topic: Questions
10-second review: Encourages students to ask good questions rather than typical “stupid” questions.
Title: “Stupid Questions.” J Hudson. English Journal (November 2008), 105-108. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quotes: “A good question…is one aimed at acquiring information that matters to us.” p. 105.
“…a poor question seeks information that does not matter.” p. 105.
“Better questions lead to new knowledge and meaning and to more questions.” p. 107.
Comment: Some ideas about questions that I will think about and try to apply to myself. Teaching the students the differences between good questions and “stupid” questions should encourage students to think more deeply and to ask more interesting questions: For example, Why does Jane Austen view marriage as the way to perfect happiness and married people as mismatched and unhappy? A “stupid” question: May I sharpen my pencil? The questions could also be controversial: Why are male justices of the Supreme Court and religions controlled by men making decisions on abortions? Or, Why do we need to learn this stuff? RayS.
Title: “Stupid Questions.” J Hudson. English Journal (November 2008), 105-108. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quotes: “A good question…is one aimed at acquiring information that matters to us.” p. 105.
“…a poor question seeks information that does not matter.” p. 105.
“Better questions lead to new knowledge and meaning and to more questions.” p. 107.
Comment: Some ideas about questions that I will think about and try to apply to myself. Teaching the students the differences between good questions and “stupid” questions should encourage students to think more deeply and to ask more interesting questions: For example, Why does Jane Austen view marriage as the way to perfect happiness and married people as mismatched and unhappy? A “stupid” question: May I sharpen my pencil? The questions could also be controversial: Why are male justices of the Supreme Court and religions controlled by men making decisions on abortions? Or, Why do we need to learn this stuff? RayS.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Topic: Plagiarism
10-second review: The only way to defeat plagiarism is to involve students in writing or projects about which they truly care.
Title: “Prompt Attention: What I Learned from the Plagiarists.” Barry Gilmore. English Journal (November 2008), 102-104. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quote: “The ultimate goal should not be to create a prompt that produces original writing but to create an environment that leads students to devise prompts and arguments of their own.”
Summary: Example: Ask students to brainstorm a list of possible topics on Hamlet.
Title: “Prompt Attention: What I Learned from the Plagiarists.” Barry Gilmore. English Journal (November 2008), 102-104. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quote: “The ultimate goal should not be to create a prompt that produces original writing but to create an environment that leads students to devise prompts and arguments of their own.”
Summary: Example: Ask students to brainstorm a list of possible topics on Hamlet.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Topic: English Language Learners (ELLs)
10-second review: Some methods to help the mainstream teacher work with older students who are learning English as a second language.
Title: “Modifying Lessons for English Language Learners.” M Dellicarpini. English Journal (November 2008), 998 – 101. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: Learn the world and culture of the ELL student. Use abridged editions of novels as supplements to the unabridged novel. Use poetry, art, music and short news articles related to the theme of the literature the class is reading.
Comment: Part of a regular column in the English Journal and, this month, written by its editor. For me, most of the articles written about ELLs are piecemeal approaches. I keep looking for some basic, underlying ideas that techniques like these can fit into. (Of course, learning about the world and the culture of the ELL would certainly be basic.) RayS.
Title: “Modifying Lessons for English Language Learners.” M Dellicarpini. English Journal (November 2008), 998 – 101. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: Learn the world and culture of the ELL student. Use abridged editions of novels as supplements to the unabridged novel. Use poetry, art, music and short news articles related to the theme of the literature the class is reading.
Comment: Part of a regular column in the English Journal and, this month, written by its editor. For me, most of the articles written about ELLs are piecemeal approaches. I keep looking for some basic, underlying ideas that techniques like these can fit into. (Of course, learning about the world and the culture of the ELL would certainly be basic.) RayS.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Topic: Productive Assessment
10-second review: Having taught the “perfect” lesson on recognizing iambic pentameter, the author asked students to copy just one line of iambic pentameter from any source on an index card. One-third of the class was able to do so. If she had not had the students attempt this application of what she had taught them, she would never have known that her lesson had failed as much as it did. Two-thirds of the students could not reproduce a sentence from any source in iambic pentameter. That’s “formative” assessment.
Title: “Formative Assessment: Can you Handle the Truth?” J Gorlewski. English Journal (November 2008), 94-97. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: “Formative” assessment is used after interim activities. It shows the teacher how well the students understood what had been taught. If the class does not succeed in the “formative” assessment, the teacher can use additional activities to help the students to understand. “Summative” assessment is a final assessment that does not allow for further teaching, as in “high-stakes” testing.
Comment: “Formative” assessment is only common sense—if the teacher can “handle” the truth that a number of students have not succeeded in learning what has been taught. RayS.
Title: “Formative Assessment: Can you Handle the Truth?” J Gorlewski. English Journal (November 2008), 94-97. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: “Formative” assessment is used after interim activities. It shows the teacher how well the students understood what had been taught. If the class does not succeed in the “formative” assessment, the teacher can use additional activities to help the students to understand. “Summative” assessment is a final assessment that does not allow for further teaching, as in “high-stakes” testing.
Comment: “Formative” assessment is only common sense—if the teacher can “handle” the truth that a number of students have not succeeded in learning what has been taught. RayS.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Topic: New Teachers
Question: What are some tips for new teachers?
10-second review: How to relate to parents, colleagues and supervisors.
Title: “Mentoring Matters.” TM McCann and L Johannessen, Eds. English Journal (November 2008), 86-88. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: Subhead: “Retaining Quality Teachers Is the Real Test.” Gives advice on how to relate to parents, colleagues and supervisors.
Parents: Be accessible through phone, e-mail, conferences. Put yourself in the parent’s place. Recruit parents to be partners in helping their child’s growth. Be active and attentive listeners. Acknowledge fault when you make a mistake. Make homework instructions clear. Be careful what you send home; somebody will be scrutinizing and criticizing it.
Colleagues: Learn background of colleagues. Gravitate toward positive people. Enlist everyone as your mentor. Respect dignity of every school employee, including custodians, secretaries, food staff, etc.
Supervisors: Assume supervisor is interested in your professional growth. Show interest in long-term professional development. Ask how your supervisor defines the behavior of good teachers. Invite your supervisor to troubleshoot. Alert supervisor about possible difficulties with student, parent.
Comment: Good advice, to which I add, for the secondary teacher, some advice on classroom management. The first ten minutes of class time are critical for settling students down for work. Engage the students in an activity for the first ten minutes. Give extra credit for completing and rewriting. Examples of activities:
1. Write as well as you can for ten minutes on the topic of your choice. Good for one of your five classes. Three weeks. Then shift to next class. Ten minutes of writing will be easy to mark for one class. Clean up individual grammar problems.
2. Spelling test. I used to use a single spelling problem for the ten words: multi-syllable words; rules; words frequently misspelled because of the indefinite vowel; “C”/”S” confusion; -sede, -ceed, -cede words; words frequently misspelled because of mispronunciation, etc.
3. Put grammar problem in a sentence on board and have students correct. Use the format of the SAT?
RayS.
10-second review: How to relate to parents, colleagues and supervisors.
Title: “Mentoring Matters.” TM McCann and L Johannessen, Eds. English Journal (November 2008), 86-88. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: Subhead: “Retaining Quality Teachers Is the Real Test.” Gives advice on how to relate to parents, colleagues and supervisors.
Parents: Be accessible through phone, e-mail, conferences. Put yourself in the parent’s place. Recruit parents to be partners in helping their child’s growth. Be active and attentive listeners. Acknowledge fault when you make a mistake. Make homework instructions clear. Be careful what you send home; somebody will be scrutinizing and criticizing it.
Colleagues: Learn background of colleagues. Gravitate toward positive people. Enlist everyone as your mentor. Respect dignity of every school employee, including custodians, secretaries, food staff, etc.
Supervisors: Assume supervisor is interested in your professional growth. Show interest in long-term professional development. Ask how your supervisor defines the behavior of good teachers. Invite your supervisor to troubleshoot. Alert supervisor about possible difficulties with student, parent.
Comment: Good advice, to which I add, for the secondary teacher, some advice on classroom management. The first ten minutes of class time are critical for settling students down for work. Engage the students in an activity for the first ten minutes. Give extra credit for completing and rewriting. Examples of activities:
1. Write as well as you can for ten minutes on the topic of your choice. Good for one of your five classes. Three weeks. Then shift to next class. Ten minutes of writing will be easy to mark for one class. Clean up individual grammar problems.
2. Spelling test. I used to use a single spelling problem for the ten words: multi-syllable words; rules; words frequently misspelled because of the indefinite vowel; “C”/”S” confusion; -sede, -ceed, -cede words; words frequently misspelled because of mispronunciation, etc.
3. Put grammar problem in a sentence on board and have students correct. Use the format of the SAT?
RayS.
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