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 »

(For previous stories about Stephane, look here, here, and here.)

Stephane, the most troubled and troublesome of my students, was causing problems again.  Not sure what to do, I sent the following note to the coordinator of his program.

Hi B.  I wanted to let you know that Stephane has, as o… Read full post »

(For previous posts on Luba and her situation, look here for Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.)

To: Ms. M, Centre for Students with Physical Disabilities
RE: Student with psychiatric problems

Dear Ms. M:

I am a teacher in the English department, and I have asked one of my students to come see you. … Read full post »

10.  "In today's modern society..." (this is the first line in 25% of the essays I read)

9.  "In my humble opinion, I believe that..."

8.  "Different," as in, "This story was really different." 

7.  "In the following paragraphs, I will demonstrate that this thesis is corre… Read full post »

Today I came across a post called "'Meaningful' School-to-Career" on the blog In Pursuit of Excellence.  The blogger asks,

Schools provide young people with a solid academic foundation to build the rest of their lives on. But schools are also supposed to prepare students for the real world....… Read full post »

Today I discovered a blog called "Prone to Laughter," in which the author, "Dance," explores, among other things, her experiences as a teacher.  One of her posts, entitled "Compassion," and the comments that followed it, resonated with me strongly, and I started to write a comment, but my respon… 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 »

Parker J. Palmer, in The Courage to Teach (which I'm currently rereading at the suggestion of my friend Tara), tells us, “Good teachers possess a capacity for connectedness.”  These days, I’m no longer certain I possess this capacity.  

Dealing with students, and with the w… Read full post »

I'm putting together a proposal for a memoir based on material from this blog.  What do you think?

Siobhan Curious Falls In Love Again:
Project Description

Since August 2007, I have been keeping a pseudonymous blog called “Siobhan Curious,” which details and reflects upon my classroom e… Read full post »

I teach a specialized college English course for Child Studies majors.  In it, we read some short fiction, some nonfiction and a couple of novels that revolve around the subject of childhood relationships.  

On the first day of class, I ask students to read a short story and write a two-part… Read full post »

This is a "thank you" and update to all those who commented on last week's post, "I'm watching you," on a student with personal issues whom I caught cheating during a test.  I was a bit overwhelmed (although grateful) for the number of comments, and eventually had to return to my… 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 »

We're already five weeks into the semester.  Frankly, this blows my mind.  In a good way, mostly.  Up to now, things have gone very smoothly.  (I'm vigorously knocking on wood.)  I'm getting used to rising at 5:30 a.m. every day, and am delighted to be done with teaching by 1… Read full post »

(Check out Part One and Part Two of this story.)

So two weeks before Christmas, I once again eschewed the Sunday sleep-in, put on my best blue sweater and black jacket, and metroed down to the Unitarian church, this time alone.  My nervousness about being there without The Boyfriend Buffer was ba… Read full post »

(for Part One of this continuing saga, please go here.)

On a Sunday morning, The Boyfriend and I took the metro to Vendome, to attend Montreal's only Unitarian church.  We underestimated the travel time, which is unlike us, and arrived in time for the service by the skin of our teeth.  We… 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 »

My sabbatical is almost over.  I return to teaching classes in a week and a half, after an 8-month, much-needed hiatus.  

I’m not dreading the return.  I feel well rested, even freshly optimistic.  I’m not having panic attacks.  (I was dogged by chronic hyperventil… 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 »

College students are at a crucial moment in the building of their “life-span construct.” The "life-span construct" is a part of our human personality, the part that has a unified sense of past, present, and future – in other words, a sense of who we are over time.  

Building thi… Read full post »

Last semester, I created and taught a new course on "personal narrative,"  and we read the memoir Angela’s Ashes.  Because of the length of the book and the difficulty I thought some students might have with the narrative voice, I decided to structure our discussion as a series of sem… Read full post »

I'm doing some research on the use of electronic/digital tools for teachers, and I'm particularly interested in anecdotal experiences.  If you're a teacher, or know some teachers, or have some opinions about education and the digital world and would like to help me out, please take a minute to a… Read full post »

photo credit: Scott W. Gray

Previous post: spare the rod

  Read full post »

It's become clear to me that many of my students need, and want, a firm hand.

Now, how you could reach the age of 17 or 18, make the decision to come to college, and still need a punitive nanny standing over you and telling you how to behave in the classroom… Read full post »

I picked up The First Days of School, by Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong, after reading recommendations on several blogs.  I love it, and I think any teacher, or anyone who is interested in teaching, learning or children in general should buy it. 

True, the strategies it proposes are… Read full post »

I teach at a CEGEP.  CEGEPs are particular to the Quebec educational system.  Students in Quebec spend five years in high school (Secondary 1-5, equivalent to grades 7-11 elsewhere.)  If they want to continue their schooling, they usually go on to CEGEP, where they either spend two yea… Read full post »