Archives for March, 2010

The Gist: Students in my Storytelling class are now working with music. What we're doing isn't explicitly stated in the state standards. No part of me believes this ...


Dear @EdPressSec, I've left numerous messages via voicemail to see if anyone has had a chance to look up the information I requested regarding the Proposed ...


The Gist: My G11 students are reading The Great Gatsby. After the choice afforded them in the last quarter, I can't be every other English teacher. We're challenging ...


The Gist: Thinking about texts is complicated. The ideas of success and greatness are fluid and subjective. Rather than a paper, I'm having my students document their thinking. The ...


The Gist: A little over a week ago, I started trying to contact @EdPressSec on twitter to ask some questions about the elimination of direct federal ...


The Gist: Presentations of classwork usually end up with me being talked at and 30 disinterested teenagers trying to hang on. Giving the students "evaluations" to fill ...


The Gist: The federal budget has eliminated direct funding for the National Writing Project. Without the funding, it's unlikely this national model of a successful networked collective ...


The Gist: The current draft of the federal budget cuts direct funding for the National Writing Project. The NWP has been one of the few extremely successful ...


The Gist: The CtW Project is something different this year. My students are grappling with the issues and their possible solutions in more authentic ways. I'm teaching ways ...


Tom Hoffman posts this from Caroline Grannan: Well, I have a proposal. Those 93 teachers, support staff and administrators should get together, pull the necessary strings ...


The Gist: Thought and Idea are different things. We encourage both in the classroom. I’m not sure which I privilege more. I’m not sure which I should. The Whole Story: Disclaimer: ...