My students summarize, I want them to analyze. This is the battle I face every year. This comes out most often when they get their essays back. They are hoping that I recognized and rewarded their brilliance. But when I conference with students about their work, and we put their essay under a microscope, they … Continue Reading
There are a bunch of lines in Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Shoulders” that have stayed with me ever since I discovered it a few years ago. Like many good poems, it takes something small and simple — a man is trying to cross the street in the rain while carrying his son — and turns … Continue Reading
If you could somehow transcribe the first poetry unit that I taught this year, the word that would appear most often would be “complex.” In each of my classes we define complexity as something that has things connected in complicated ways. We apply that definition to poetry, looking for the parts that connect to the … Continue Reading
Marking time is important because the practice allows us to step back and reflect on the world spinning (seemingly out of control at times) around us. I like to provide opportunities in the classroom to mark time as well modeling to my students the importance of carving out to to stop, catch our breath, reflect, … Continue Reading
I want to tell you why I am so hopeful for this school year. But first, let me share with you a bit about my first two days in the classroom. For the past 14 years I’ve taught the same first-day lesson. Actually, it is the same first two-day lesson. I don’t do this syllabus. … Continue Reading
