HC English Department

Great reading and writing strategies blog

For those of you who do the six word story - this lesson focuses on close reading and word choice.

Simple descriptors of project-problem based learning and inquiry

Inquiry learning classrooms and supports for them

Simple blog on what we all aspire to in our practice

A teacher website with vocabulary games and unit design resources

How to handle the writing load - comments to students

Love this idea. Is there a way to get names from the school-based counselors of students who need a love letter, and have our classes write letters to those particular students?

Good overview of competency grading - common assessment use and PLCs

An article about the lasting effects of high school experiences. Could be nicely paired with sophomore readings. 

How often should you give feedback? This is a question I've wrestled with for a decade. As a high-school English teacher, I try my best to write thoughtful comments on all my students' summative assessments, but the volume in my particular field is soul-crushing. It's not uncommon for me to have 50 three-page essays to...

"Each Friday we collaborate with a classroom in New Jersey to test and publish three short writing ideas that address Common Core Standards and that are grounded in New York Times content. This week, all three prompts focus on the common theme of life on a coastline - a topic of great importance to our classroom collaborators, who recently went through weeks of disruption because of Hurricane Sandy."

Vonnegut's instructions: As for your term papers, I should like them to be both cynical and religious. I want you to adore the Universe, to be easily delighted, but to be prompt as well with impatience with those artists who offend your own deep notions of what the Universe is or should be. "This above all ..." I invite you to read the fifteen tales in Masters of the Modern Short Story. Read them for pleasure and satisfaction, beginning each as though, only seven minutes before, you had swallowed two ounces of very good booze. "Except ye be as little children ..."

"Like many people I consider myself a lifelong learner, but more and more I have to work hard to stay open minded. But the need for learning never ends, so your desire to do so should always outweigh your desire to be right. The world is changing and new ideas pop up everyday; incorporating them into your life will keep you engaged and relevant. The following are the methods I use to stay open and impressionable. They'll work for you too. No matter how old you get."

A few years ago, my principal called me into his office and explained that too many students were failing my honors language arts class. I deflected his comments as no fault of my own. "They're not putting in the effort it takes to master the content," I said. "It's an honors class." How many teachers have had similar conversations and responded defensively like I did? But I taught the material! The kids aren't trying … don't have the basic skills … didn't meet deadlines … need to learn responsibility. And so forth. There is often truth to these statements. But I have come to believe that great teachers accept responsibility for motivating their students. The most effective educators establish an environment where kids not only want to succeed but feel that they can. Here are several ideas teachers can implement to transform grading practices for motivational purposes while protecting the rigor of instruction:

"F Scott Fitzgerald's novel set amid the riotous frivolity of the jazz age defines the American psyche, says author Jay McInerney"

"There are a variety of tech tools and methods out there for teaching writing that can make the process easier and more fun for both teachers and students. While not every high-tech way of teaching writing will work for every class or every student, there's enough variety that there's bound to be something for everyone."