Until now, I haven't commented on the madness happening in Montreal streets concerning tuition hikes.  I haven't commented because my feelings about the tuition hikes, and the resulting student strikes and protes/… Read full post »

As the new semester creeps nearer, I'm starting to think about plagiarism again.  My use of Turnitin.com, a plagiarism-detection software, is helping me relax a bit - last semester, the software made discovering plagiarism, and talking to students about it, a lot easier.  H/… Read full post »

It's good for a teacher to be a student once in a while.

I learn this lesson over and over as I pursue my MEd.  I have encountered all sorts of challenges I'd forgotten about, like worrying about grades and managing my time in order to get readings done and papers… Read full post »

Is the academic paper the best way for students to demonstrate their learning?  Will learning to write papers help students develop the skills they will need later in their lives?

One of my heroes, Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times (whose Sunday Magazine column, The Medium, is/… Read full post »

In a recent post, I wrote about my frustrations with Khawar, who has serious difficulties with logical thought and essay organization.  After an initial attempt at tutoring that didn't satisfy him, he has refused to take steps to remedy his problems and has instead tried to insist… Read full post »

A friend gave me a copy of The Skating Rink for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I'd told her that I've been trying to get into mystery novels lately, and she's been devouring Bolaño but didn't want to plunge me into his difficult masterpiece 2666.

It's… Read full post »

Benoit's in my remedial class - and how.  Every so often I read a student essay that makes me ask, silently or out loud, "How is it that this student was admitted to an English college?  What can possibly be done for him here?  How in the name of God is… Read full post »

Two of my three classes this term have been, so far, focused yet energetic, respectful yet lively. The third has been a bit of a pain in the ass.

This class meets from 4-6 in the afternoon - the worst possible time. They're tired. I'm tired. Their… Read full post »

Some of my Twitter contacts (particularly Shelley S. Terrell, or @ShellTerrell, who keeps the great blog Teacher Reboot Camp) have been encouraging me to sign up for the "One Comment a Day" project.

This project was developed by Andrew Marcinek, who posts about it here.  The premise: on/… Read full post »

I became a reader because I was bored.

I learned to read when I was about four years old, but, like most children, I read only picture books until I was seven.  My parents brought me to the library every two weeks, and I filled up on library books/… Read full post »

I used to keep a lesson diary.  I might start doing it again.

I've been participating in the Castle Book Club discussion of Daniel T. Willingham's Why Don't Students like School? – half-heartedly, I admit, for two reasons.  First, my beloved cat died last week, and since then I'…

Read full post »

Keeping a blog gives me a lot of chances to learn from other bloggers.  I'm often inspired by someone else's post, and that inspiration can be the beginning of a terrific conversation and blogging relationship.

Below are ten education blogs that are "favourites" in my feed reader.  Some of t… Read full post »

Craig Althof over at In Pursuit of Excellence emailed me the other day with an article from CNN about "dropout prevention programs" in the United States, including the America's Promise Alliance's program, which is chaired by Gen. Colin Powell.  

The introduction to the article focuses on dropou… Read full post »

I do a lot of complaining around here, because problems are interesting.  However, as I wrap up the year, I need to look back on the things that went well.  Here are ten good things that happened this semester.

1. 8 a.m. classes.  I know, I didn't think so, either.  But having… Read full post »

10.  You don't double-space.  You KNOW that I take formatting points off when you don't double-space.  Double-space does NOT mean space-and-a-half.  We've discussed this.

9.  Your printer ink is not black. You KNOW that I take formatting points off when you print in blue, pur… Read full post »

There have been some reader requests for resolutions to the stories of Stephane, Luba and Marta.  (See below for a complete directory of posts on each of these characters.)  So now that the semester is winding up, I thought I'd give a brief, perhaps anti-climactic, update on each of these s… Read full post »

I'm concerned about President Obama's assertion that children should spend more time in school.  I absolutely disagree; I think children should spend a lot of time learning - in fact, I think they should spend all day, every day, learning, as should adults - but that "school" is only one, and… Read full post »

(Go here for Part One of the story of Marta and her friends.)

This morning, I arrived at work to find this message in my Inbox.

I can make it [to meet with you privately] for tomorrow. Today I left because as usual family issues got in the picture. Anyways. see you… Read full post »

Melanie, Mary and Marta always sit at the back of the class.  They often whisper among themselves when others (I or their classmates) are talking, and when I ask them to do work individually, they look at each others' papers and chat.  

Earlier this semester, I took the three of them… Read full post »

Seriously, these are really good; I'm not making them up, and I don't think they were, either.  If you want to get away with something, one of these excuses will probably work.

10.  My mother made me give my dog away and I haven't stopped crying for three days.

9.  While driving to… Read full post »

I recently joined StumbleUpon (and would love it if you joined, too, and "stumbled" me and any of my blog posts that you have enjoyed by using the little "thumbs-up" icon.)  This morning I received my first batch of "recommendations," and it included this post from The Stump, which appears to… Read full post »

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that, of all the difficulties a teacher has to face, cheating enrages and exhausts me the most.

(Ok, wait.  If I'm to be totally honest, marking papers enrages and exhausts me the most, but discussions of cheating are far more interesting.)

One… Read full post »

I have a confession to make.  I’ve been going to church.

Those who know me may find this surprising.  I’m not a churchy type.  I don’t really own any “church clothes.”  I like to sleep in whenever I can, including Sunday mornings.  Before a few we… Read full post »

This week, I finally got around to reading the NY Times Sunday Magazine’s yearly “College Issue,” which came out at the end of September.  This year’s issue focuses on teaching, so I set it aside with the intention of reading it carefully when I could bear to think about… Read full post »