* My lit review has a working thesis! This means that I’ve gone through the 20+ articles that were somewhat relevant and chosen the ones to write about. This also means that I know how I’m going to organize my lit review. So my thesis, since I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat […]
Honestly, I haven’t really enjoyed reading What Works? A Practical Guide for Teacher Research. So far, it hasn’t felt very practical. Maybe because I’m not teaching? Maybe because some of the examples are made-up? Maybe because so much of it seems redundant or simple or… something. But! I did enjoy reading chapter 7-9 more than the […]
It’s naptime at my house. I’m sitting outside on the porch with my laptop. One girl is asleep in her carseat in the car in the driveway; the other is asleep in my bed (hopefully not wetting the bed because I don’t want to change sheets again). I want to be napping too, since I […]
From tonight’s class, three big ideas for next week: 1. Define “correctional education.” What do I mean? Adult basic education, post-secondary, GED, juvenile high school diplomas? I honestly don’t know. Right now I’m following the research. I’ve had to sculpt my theme/thesis/idea/question/whatever many times. Sooner or later (maybe by December?), I’ll be in the right spot. […]
If you’re anything like me, you don’t have a ton of time to do your homework. Maybe you have 30 minutes to get a lot done. Maybe you multi-task too much. At any rate, if you have the time to quickly search for some articles, that’s great. Use that time. But make sure you bookmark […]
(AKA: Big Idea 5) Here’s my big idea: This is going to be a lot of work! I already knew that, but now that I’m sitting down in my basement, having been given 30 minutes of kid-free time by my husband, listening to my girls cry upstairs and come to the door and say, “Mama???”, I’ve […]
(AKA: Big Ideas 2-4) I think Jim Fredricksen, author of “Are We Learning The Right Lessons From New Dorp High School?” is definitely on the right track. The lesson we should be learning from New Dorp High’s success is not that all schools can use formulaic writing to improve students’ abilities to think and write critically. […]
I was lucky enough to invite myself to last night’s Tedx Kalamazoo (#tedxkzoo) talks last night. My husband had been invited and was planning on going by himself and at the last minute we found a sitter and went together. I was SO excited by a couple of the talks, namely the first one (Paul […]
First, this photo I saw on my FB page today. Posted by an “unschooler” that I follow. Yes, unschooling. Haven’t heard of it? Let me quote an extremely reliable source, Wikipedia: “Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including play, game play, […]
1. “The more years of schooling the person had completed when beginning their prison term, the less likely they were to recidivate” (Beth Hatt, From “Still I Rise: Youth Caught Between the Worlds of Schools and Prisons”) This ties into what I was saying last week, a bit. Not only do people do better post-prison […]
Adventures in English Education 