Kindles are $49 today. Want to buy one for one of my students? Sure you do! #kcp http://j.mp/NSj4y2
— Mark Isero (@iserotope) March 5, 2014
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Woodstock live-tweets the Oscars
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— Woodstock (@Woodstock) March 3, 2014
“The Wrong Way to Teach Grammar”
No more diagramming sentences: Students learn more from simply writing and reading.
Mark Isero‘s insight:
I like The Atlantic, and usually, the magazine gets education matters right, but this article about grammar misses the mark by oversimplifying the issue.
Michelle Navarre Clearly argues that teaching grammar directly doesn’t work and that we should teach grammar “through” writing.
The reply of most English teachers: Duh. Of course. Best practice is to see where your students struggle and then help them.
But then the next step — how to do that — is where it gets complex. It seems like Ms. Clearly would advocate a one-on-one approach, where the teacher conferences with each student. That sounds great but takes too much time to be a teacher’s only strategy.
Whole-group instruction also has its flaws, even when done well (with sentence combining, for instance). My experience suggests that students don’t internalize whole-group grammar lessons.
My colleagues and I are exploring small-group intervention, in which 4-6 students meet with the teacher on a specific grammar concern while the rest of the students work independently on a writing activity. This seems like the best of both worlds. There’s enough personal attention, but the process doesn’t take forever.
See this article on m.theatlantic.com, or see it on Iserotope Extras.
The homework gap is huge
“There’s just too much,” she said.
She talked about the fight she’s having with her school to lower the amount of homework for her teenage daughter. “Have you read the studies that the typical high school student gets more than three hours of homework a night?”
Yes, I replied. Yes, I have.
But then I told her that there are actually two homework problems: (1) Students in suburban schools are probably doing too much, while (2) Students in urban schools are probably doing too little.
Many of my colleagues, especially those at the San Francisco school where I work, have given up on assigning homework. “It’s just not going to get done,” one said. “Students refuse to do it,” said another.
The problem, of course, is that these students (and their families) want to go to college, just like their suburban counterparts. And even though it can be argued that some assignments aren’t worthwhile, this homework gap contributes to academic unpreparedness.
Many urban charter schools, like KIPP and Uncommon Schools, have turned to extending their days to help students with their homework. After-school mentoring programs, like First Graduate, do the same. This approach makes sense: If the students aren’t going to do homework at home, have them do it before they leave school.
But not all schools have the resources to pull this off, even if they wanted to. That doesn’t mean, though, that teachers have to give up on homework entirely.
My favorite approach is “Your Homework is Due Tonight,” which capitalizes on technology (smartphones, usually) to encourage students to take care of homework before they go to sleep. Another idea I like is promoting a common “Homework Half Hour” (say, from 7:30 to 8:00) when everyone (including the teacher!) is doing homework, available for help, and working as a team to complete the assignment.
No matter where we stand on the homework debate, it’s pretty clear that it’s not going away anytime soon, and despite its sometime ills, homework does matter for students’ chances at college.
For urban kids of color who will be first-generation college students, homework is a must.
So while homework is here, it’s important that teachers try out creative ways to increase homework completion so that students feel like they’re part of the academic conversation.
Nice classroom library in Downers Grove, IL
Here’s one from Kathryn Nickell in Downers Grove, Illinois. She teaches seventh grade Language Arts and Reading.
Ms. Nickell has all the ingredients, including ample space (so everything isn’t crammed and crushed) and outward-facing book covers (a must).
If you tweet, go ahead and send Ms. Nickell a positive little message.
And if you spot a beautiful classroom library out in the wild, please let me know.