Category Archives: Classroom Reflections
If It Ain’t Broke: The Workshop Model
by GABRIELLE LENSCH PLASTRIK If It Ain’t Broke. . . don’t fix it, right? But what if “fixing it” might make it better? I have spent the last few weeks trying to make some important decisions about how I will … Continue reading
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Taking the Sting out of the SAT Essay: Tips for English Teachers
by ALEXIS BONARI In my experience as a tenth-grade English teacher, most students have been terrified of writing the SAT essay. There are so many stressful (and usually unfamiliar) aspects to this kind of essay test that students aren’t applying … Continue reading
Filed under Classroom Reflections, Lesson Plans
Have You Gotten Your Students Involved Today?
One music teacher’s strategy for creating a student-centered learning environment. Continue reading
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Another Year, Another Race: Taking our students from August to June
Gabrielle Lensch Plastrik reflects on the marathon that is teaching a year of high school English. Continue reading
Filed under Classroom Reflections, Essays
Reflections on Urban School Teaching: Black Is Beautiful
by JILL GUERRA When I was growing up in the 1970’s, people who had a similar cultural background to mine were nonexistent in the media. The closest I got to a media representation of someone from my cultural background was … Continue reading
Filed under Classroom Reflections, Essays
Learning for the Sake of Life
by JESSE SCACCIA Something that I tell my students over and over is that the point of school is not to succeed at the next level of school. We go to school–and we work hard there–because what we learn in … Continue reading
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The Skills I Teach
A lot of English teachers teach a content-based curriculum. Most schools are set up to encourage that arrangement. For instance, I am assigned United States’ Literature and European Literature as my classes. While I keep my literature selections to the required geographical regions and work as best I can with the history class that pairs with mine, I try as hard as I can to shape my curriculum around teaching skills. Continue reading
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Grading With Purpose: How to make grades more meaningful for you and your students
Most teachers grade with categories such as “tests and quizzes,” “homework,” “participation,” “in-class work,” etc. But why don’t we group grades by the skill they assess? Continue reading
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The Schoolyard Foodie: Squash is Camote–Dual Language Immersion in the Kitchen
Dave Chappelle just performed 21 straight shows in Oakland to an incredibly diverse group of people. Some nights he performed 5 hours straight without a break. And you know what he said he wanted to be when he was growing up—A TEACHER! He is of course a teacher in another sense. He helps to relieve us of the multi-cultural boundaries that exist between us.
Which brings me to the importance of multi-cultural education in schools. Youth need to identify themselves with where they came from and they also need to learn and appreciate that about others.
Regardless of where you are on the planet, food is an excellent tool for breaking down social and cultural barriers. Dave Chapelle makes a pretty good living hammering away at our insecurities around race and gender. If you visit a school cooking class, you will see that it too is an excellent space for doing the same. Continue reading
Filed under Classroom Reflections, The Schoolyard Foodie
The Schoolyard Foodie: Keepin’ it real in the kitchen with middleschoolers
A running diary of making Tacos de Asada with middleschoolers. Continue reading
Filed under Classroom Reflections, The Schoolyard Foodie
