So, I quit grading … Grades — good or bad — tend to make us do unproductive things.
Each September, when I assess my students’ first piece of writing, processed and polished, leave feedback, and return it to them, one of two things happens: students who did well give a great sigh of relief and check English class off of their Things to Worry About List; the students who did not do well become utterly defeated right from the get-go. And neither of these mindsets is valuable to our students’ growth and learning. The students who feel secure in their performance continue to perform, filling in the formula they have so often practiced to get the only things they care about — the grade.
They already know it all — their thinking and creativity is stunted, they take no risks, as they repeat the steps that they know work. I teach both unleveled 9th grade Reading Writing Workshops and 12th grade IB English. Zakaria: Fears about U.S. students lagging behind are unfounded (10/06/15) Fareed Zakariah, host of CNN~s Fareed Zakaria GPS, contributing editor at The Atlantic and Washington Post columnist, addresses to the audience Monday night, Oct. 5, 2015, during Southeast Missouri State University's Speaker Series at the Show Me Center.
(Laura Simon)[Order this photo] Before Fareed Zakaria had an eponymous CNN program or a recurring Washington Post column, he was an ordinary -- albeit gifted -- Indian teenager. In his Show Me Center address Monday evening, he said he did the usual things Indian teens did, which is to say he labored over the decision to become a doctor or an engineer while passing around bootleg copies of American television shows. "The opening sequence of 'Dallas,'" he recalled, savoring the memory of the sheer opulence and wealth America seemed to hold. "And of course the women... " But despite enviable academic aptitude, Zakaria found the transition from the Indian education system to the American one difficult. tgraef@semissourian.com. Zing! - School Edition. What Does My Free Zing Account Include?
Personalized Learning Package Upgrade Only $10 a year Assign specific books to individual students, small groups of students, or an entire class Send personalized messages to individual students or an entire class Add your own eLearning teaching points to any Zing text Access a full suite of real-time data and reporting Assigning Books Promo Step into the Future with Zing! Digital libraries curated by reading level, genre, content area topic, theme, and/or reading and writing skills and strategies for grades K through 8. Writing Masters: Getting Off To A Smart Start with Laura Robb. Welcome to the first installment of our Writing Masters blog series!
With classroom-tested tips from our Curricular Resources authors on how to improve your teaching of writing at any grade level, each installment will share author insights and practical suggestions on teaching writing in the classroom that you can use the very next day. Today, Laura Robb offers tips to get to know your students as writers. Why We Gather: The Importance of a Classroom Meeting Area. When my husband and I first moved to New York City we lived in an apartment so teeny-tiny that there wasn’t enough room in the “kitchen” for even a a small half-sized refrigerator.
The kitchen was just a closet with a stove stuck in it. So the refrigerator was out in the living room, right near the couch. Being new to city-living, we both thought this was hilarious. Every time we sat down on our couch in the living room we’d say, “Hey, pass me a drink would ya?” And then reach over to the fridge without even having to get up. But after a few months of living this way we forgot about it and it just blended into the background, only to be brought to our attention when friends came to visit. “Meh.” Teachers, friends, can I be honest with you?
And I think those teachers with no meeting area are shrugging and thinking, “What’s the big deal? But just because it basically works (like a fridge in the living room), that doesn’t mean it’s actually desirable. “Oh, they just sit at their desks. Middle & High School ELA Resources - Writing Workshop. Handouts for Students (and Teachers!)
: A student resource packet that provides a list of synonyms for character traits, emotions/feelings, verbs, and adverbs that they can use to enhance their writing. A list of descriptive adjectives broken down into specific categories. A proofreading/editing checklist for students. A handout that provides students with a list of words that help connect a writing piece together. When correcting a writing piece, these standardized symbols can be used to indicate to the writer what they need to fix.Memoirs: A step-by-step guide for teachers who want to implement the writing of the memoir genre into their ELA classroom; details how to work students through constructing writing territories on topics for writing.
An article written by Kirby & Kirby (2010) that highlights the reasons why memoir writing is ideal for teens of the 21st Century. Context Clues - Ms. Walsh's Website.