English teachers Group at eNotes

I hate bare walls, so I try to cover every inch of my classroom...

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 20:55:07 PST

I hate bare walls, so I try to cover every inch of my classroom with with posters and artwork of my personal choice to give the students (and myself) a sense of culture and escape. You'd be surprised how many questions are asked and discussions are fueled (and daydreams visited) from some well chosen poster art.

One thing that I have made a common practice of is consistent positive...

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 13:23:08 PST

One thing that I have made a common practice of is consistent positive parent contact. I make it a goal to contact the parent or guardian of every student coming into my classroom before school starts. I also make it a point to make sure I have positive contact with every parent again in the first quarter or two of school. I think it goes a long way toward improving school/community relations if the positive contacts outnumber the corrective...

Little Things that Make a Difference

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 05:20:54 PST

My intent in starting this discussion is to identify best practices in the classroom that fall outside the range of student-teacher interactions. For instance, what are some of the things you do as a teacher on a regular basis that set your classroom apart in a positive way?

Here's my example: My classroom has brass fixtures on all its cabinets, closets, and doors. The classroom doorknob and lock are both made of brass as well. While...

One of my "perfect lessons" occurred last year, when I was teaching a...

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 12:50:30 PST

One of my "perfect lessons" occurred last year, when I was teaching a piece of literature that neither I nor my students connected with -- "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. While it certainly has its merits, and paints a poignant portrait of life in Grovers Corners, my students found it to be a pure snooze-fest, and I can't honestly say I disagreed. As an activity to stimulate the kids' involvement and engagement with the piece, I had them work...

As someone stated earlier...there is little wiggle room in the...

Sat, 5 Dec 2009 20:56:23 PST

As someone stated earlier...there is little wiggle room in the curriculum for English classes. However, teachers who really want to use Sci-Fi/Fantasy can find a way to work it in. Essentially, I believe that many of us teacher how and what we ourselves have learned. I tend to focus on Romantic and Modern fiction because that's what I focused on in college. I also teach a lot of drama because that happens to be one of my research...

An inquiry about Jane Austen's novels please

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 10:12:40 PST

Hello,

I have to write a thesis about Three novels for Jane Auten (Pridea nd Prejudice, sense and Sensibilty and Emma). My supervisor asked me to write about sense and self-restraint in these three novels but I am finding difficulty in conclusion because I am writing the abstract.

Many thanks for your help.

Teaching Dickens at any level is challenging, but seniors should already...

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:00:01 PST

Teaching Dickens at any level is challenging, but seniors should already have a handle on style, word choice, and diction. You could use it along with another more modern version of the same story and have the students analyze the difference in diction and explain why this has happened in literature through the years. Societal class was a huge "soapbox" for Dickens and he wrote "A Christmas CArol" to get the people of London to realize how...

LOL! "sci-fi virgins" I think that the rich short story tradition of...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:55:42 PST

LOL! "sci-fi virgins" I think that the rich short story tradition of science fiction is often overlooked, particularly for reluctant readers. I keep anthologies in my room to loan. Many stories are short enough for a reluctant reader to finish in a single class period, and the right story can turn them on either to other works by the same author, other works in the same style or on the same topic, or even onto novels.

I did not read sci-fi growing up and picked it up by accident, really. ...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:23:13 PST

I did not read sci-fi growing up and picked it up by accident, really. Trying to keep up with my middle school students, I read the Shadow Children books by Peterson Haddix and fell in love. Now, I do literature circles (if you haven't tried them, you should) with science fiction and find the sci-fi virgins love it when prompted with the right book to begin their journeys and the readers of sci-fi are crazy in love with this change in...

In reply to #27: Hear, hear! My English department at the high...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:29:40 PST

In reply to #27: Hear, hear! My English department at the high school has been reading Kelly Gallagher's, Readicide, which makes much the same argument. Not only do we often assign the classics, which aren't always appropriate to the readers, but then we overteach them. Side by side journals, daily quizzes, lengthy character sketches, vocabulary work, read and respond prompts, etc. can suck the life out of any book. It's no wonder...

As a reader and writer of science fiction and fantasy, I have found that...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:58:29 PST

As a reader and writer of science fiction and fantasy, I have found that those genres have been the red-headed stepchildren for a long time. They often haven't been considered "real" literature. What gets ignored is the fact that every novel involves a quest, and it doesn't matter if the end goal of it is emotional freedom, better self-understanding, the solution to a murder, a magical ring, or an alien world. The important part is...

Question: do your students need to master those concepts (style, word...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:13:27 PST

Question: do your students need to master those concepts (style, word choice) or do they already have a good handle on them? Regardless, I think that the best way to teach a relatively inaccessible piece of literature, such as anything by Dickens, is to start with theme and plot and get the students engaged that way. Even though they will probably already know the basics of the story, Dickens is still quite a tough writer for contemporary high...

Thanks for all your comments. My concern with TN's new "standards" is...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:07:15 PST

Thanks for all your comments. My concern with TN's new "standards" is that they leave no room for critical thinking. A couple of years ago, it was discovered that TN was not telling the whole truth about student test scores. Too many college freshmen were being required to take remedial courses; yet, they had scored proficient or even advanced on the Gateway tests, required for graduation. So who did the state get to advise on how to...

I should also mention that I use "Harrison Bergeron" along with "The...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:59:54 PST

I should also mention that I use "Harrison Bergeron" along with "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury when I read Fahrenheit 451. Lots of connnections between them.

I use "Harrison Bergeron" a lot. My students always love it. They're...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:58:06 PST

I use "Harrison Bergeron" a lot. My students always love it. They're always slightly horrified at the ending and always make a joke about what the heck am I having them read, but they love it.

Teaching Style, Word Choice, Etc

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:56:43 PST

I want my seniors to read a little bit of Dickens this year and we definitely do not have the time to read one of his big novels, so I want to do A Christmas Carol with them. Although this is traditionally taught at lower levels, I think there is so much I can teach them by using A Christmas Carol. I want to focus on style, word choice, characterization, etc. I will probably have them analyze specific passages with partners...

I love the previous post's idea of "power standards" and using "power...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:26:49 PST

I love the previous post's idea of "power standards" and using "power assessments" to cover multiple standards are going to be critical in every new venue of transforming curriculum to meet exam based assessment. I think that trying to go line by line on standard assessment is very difficult. It might also not be very effective from an educator's point of view. This might come down to identifying a particular assessment tool and try to...

I have worked with several states' curriculum frameworks for English...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:38:05 PST

I have worked with several states' curriculum frameworks for English language arts and I have yet to see one where every single standard can be “covered” effectively in a single semester or even a single school year. Vertical planning is important in grades 9-12 so that the standards can be evenly distributed, according to the likelihood of its appearing on the EOC exams in a given year, to ensure that all the standards are addressed...

Well, Tennessee now has EOCs (End of Course Exams)? At least that’s...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:00:57 PST

Well, Tennessee now has EOCs (End of Course Exams)? At least that’s what Missouri calls them. Our EOCs are based on the CLEs(Course Level Expectations) which were developed from our GLEs (Grade Level Expectations). I was once told that all of our GLEs could be addressed in 90 days. However, the question was about EOCs, and I can only tell you what ours were like, but perhaps they will be similar to yours. Our EOC started with the 10th grade...

New LA standards in Tennessee

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:43:23 PST

If you teach 9-12 English in Tennessee, what do you think of the new standards and the new EOCs we'll have to give? Do you think it is possible to cover every standard in a one-semester block?