Tag Archives: education
All Ninth Grade, All The Time
This is my first year teaching only 9th graders all year, as in previous years, I’ve been teaching juniors or seniors during the same year as well. Since I’m also on the 9th grade advisory team, this means that I’ve been immersed in this particular freshman class, which luckily happens to be a really wonderful …
Random Bullets of Grading Exams
Reason 14,950 I love teaching freshmen: they write me little notes in the margins of their exams, with exclamation points and smiley faces, and make little jokes about the questions and their answers Quandary #1: if my students do very well, on average, on a section of their exam, is it because they studied effectively, …
Vocabulary Videos
As part of our midterm review, I’m revamping what I’ve done before; I’ve had students do review presentations before, but this year, I stepped up the requirements to make it more creative and interactive and truly substantial. I gave them a few examples and two class periods to work and then set them loose! So …
2011: Year In Review
As 2011 draws to a close, I look over the year and see where I’ve been and how it affected me; getting to review my year this way is one of the reasons I keep blogging. The opportunity to reflect is so important to me, and blogging is one of my major tools to keep …
Teachers, Students and Facebook
If you are my Facebook friend, you know that I am a frequent user of the site, checking in several times daily, posting pictures, commenting on statuses and syncing my music playlists through Spotify. I utilize all the site’s privacy features, but I definitely do a lot of communicating on Facebook. If you’ve been around …
Homework Lessons
Overheard around my house recently: “Wait, when is my project due? Is today the 17th?” “Well, Lucy was straightening my binder for me, and she accidentally recycled my rough draft. Does that mean I have to write it over again?” “Girls, why are we just realizing this now?! I’ve asked you every day this week …
Classes and Chemistry
When I moved from adjuncting to teaching high school, in interviews they always asked why I wanted to switch, and I always talked about how interesting I thought it would be to see a group of students grow and mature, in the younger years where you really get to see more of their evolution than …
Five Best Decisions
I’ve been blogging for so many years that I don’t often do memes anymore, especially since they are often much more personal than I tend to be these days. However, they remain the easiest way to knock out a quick post, and I was inspired by one I saw recently: five best decisions, which I …
Balancing Act
At the beginning of this school year, I looked at my own work schedule and noted down Parents Night, which I alternately enjoy and dread every year. I love getting to meet the parents and am always nervous about making a good impression, plus it’s a long evening in the middle of a long week …
Review: Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary Elements
I know I promised almost two months ago that I would review this book, but the past few weeks have been full of orientations and back-to-school craziness, so while I read the book in August, I am only getting around to the review now. Excuses past, Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary Elements: How to Teach …
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