The Straight-A Gospels: Pseudo-Work Does Not Equal Work
This is the first post in a three-part series focusing on the Straight-A Gospels — the core concepts behind my book, How to Become a Straight-A Student. Today we focus on Gospel #1: Pseudo-work does not equal work Here are two facts: (1) I made straight A’s in college. (2) I studied less than most people I know. The same holds true for many of the straight-A students I researched for my book. If this sounds unbelievable, it is probably because you subscribe to the following formula: work accomplished = time spent studying The more time you study the more work you accomplish. To understand our accomplishment, you must understand the following, more accurate formula: work accomplished = time spent x intensity of focus That last factor — intensity of focus — is the key to explaining why straight-A students never seem to embark on the same fatigue-saturated all-night study adventures that most undergrads rely on. [For math geeks, this is standard exponential decay.]
Review Redux: Introducing Literary Criticism Through Reception Moments
ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you. More Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals. More Teacher Resources by Grade Your students can save their work with Student Interactives. More Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans Lesson Plan Overview From Theory to Practice Using Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, this lesson introduces high school students to the idea that literary works do not contain fixed meaning but are open to interpretation. back to top Sullivan, P. (2002). Literary works do not contain a single "correct" meaning.
7 CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES
1. Previewing: Learning about a text before really reading it. Previewing enables readers to get a sense of what the text is about and how it is organized before reading it closely. 2. When you read a text, you read it through the lens of your own experience. 3. As students, you are accustomed (I hope) to teachers asking you questions about your reading. 4. The reading that you do for this class might challenge your attitudes, your unconsciously held beliefs, or your positions on current issues. 5. Outlining and summarizing are especially helpful strategies for understanding the content and structure of a reading selection. Summarizing begins with outlining, but instead of merely listing the main ideas, a summary recomposes them to form a new text. 6. All writers make assertions that they want you to accept as true. 7. Many of the authors we read are concerned with the same issues or questions, but approach how to discuss them in different ways. Back to Academic Success Page
How Standardized Testing Damages Education (Updated July 2012) | FairTest
How do schools use standardized tests? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era has seen an unprecedented expansion of standardized testing and test misuse. Despite ample evidence of the flaws, biases and inaccuracies of standardized exams, NCLB and related state and federal policies, such as Race to the Top (RTTT) and the NCLB waivers, have pressured schools to use tests to measure student learning, achievement gaps, and teacher and school quality, and to impose sanctions based on test scores. Aren’t these valid uses of test scores? Measurement experts agree that no test is good enough to serve as the sole or primary basis for any of these important educational decisions. Who is most often hurt by these practices? Students from low-income and minority-group backgrounds, English language learners, and students with disabilities, are more likely to be denied diplomas, retained in grade, placed in a lower track, or unnecessarily put in remedial education programs. No. Revised July 2012
25 Things You Should Know About Word Choice
1. A Series Of Word Choices Here’s why this matters: because both writing and storytelling comprise, at the most basic level, a series of word choices. 2. Words are like LEGO bricks: the more we add, the more we define the reality of our playset. 3. You know that game — “Oh, you’re cold, colder, colder — oh! 4. Think of it like a different game, perhaps: you’re trying to say as much as possible with as few words as you can muster. 5. Finding the perfect word is as likely as finding a downy-soft unicorn with a pearlescent horn riding a skateboard made from the bones of your many enemies. 6. For every right word, you have an infinity of wrong ones. 7. You might use a word that either oversteps or fails to meet the idea you hope to present. 8. Remember how I said earlier that words are like LEGO, blah blah blah help define reality yadda yadda poop noise? 9. Incorrect word choice means you’re using the wrong damn word. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Am. 15. No, really. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.
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Teach to the Test? Just Say No
1Kleinschrodt, M. H. (2006, April 8). Lessons learned. The Times-Picayune. 2O’Neill, J. (2006, March 12). 3Mathews, J. (2006, February 20). 5Shepard, L. 6Popham, W. 7Richards, C. (2006, March 15). 8Resnick, L., & Zurawsky, C. (2005, spring). 9 Levy, F., & Murnane, R. 10 Olson, L. (2006, March 22). 11 Newmann, F. 12 Newmann, F. 13 Mathews, J., & Chenoweth, K. (2006, April 4). 14 Steiny, J. (2006, March 19).
Writer’s Digest - Writing Prompts
Write a scene that includes a character speaking a different language, speaking in a thick accent, or otherwise speaking in a way that is unintelligibe to the other characters. (Note: You don't necessarily need to know the language the character is speaking—be creative with it!) Describe a character's reaction to something without explaining what it is. See if your fellow prompt responders can guess what it is. Write a story or a scene about one character playing a prank on another. Writing Prompt: Write a story that involves confusion over homonyms (words that have the same spelling but different meanings) or homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently). For World Storytelling Day, share the best story you've ever heard or told by word of mouth, or have a fictional character recount their favorite story. You're making your way down a cobbled street when a stocky, red-bearded man beckons you into an alley. Consider your handwriting, or a character's handwriting.
