HC English Department

How can writing change people's understanding of the world? How can it influence public opinion? How can it lead to meaningful action? In this post, which accompanies our Oct. 10 webinar, Write to Change the World: Crafting Persuasive Pieces With Help from Nicholas Kristof and the Times Op-Ed Page, we round up the best pieces we've published over the years about how to use the riches of The Times's Opinion section to teach and learn. We've sorted the ideas - many of them from teachers - into two sections. The first helps students do close-readings of editorials and Op-Eds, as well as Times Op-Docs, Op-Art and editorial cartoons. The second suggests ways for students to discover their own voices on the issues they care about. We believe they, too, can "write to change the world." Join our webinar (live on Oct. 10 or on-demand after) to learn more, and let us know in the comments how you teach these important skills."

"Five Ideas for Authentic Student Writing Stephen King, in his memoir, On Writing, recognized the weight of writing. He understood that each time any writer approaches the blank page, there is an opportunity to craft something meaningful and powerful: "You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair-the sense that you can never completely put on the page what's in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed.... Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: You must not come lightly to the blank page." Here are five ways students can turn a blank page into a powerful expression of their mind and heart."

"It is our responsibility to teach students not only how to derive and articulate their own views, but also how to listen to those of others. Plus, most college courses will expect students to acquire information aurally (as lectures continue to prevail), and few of them have developed the ability to do so. Here are seven things you can do to encourage active listening:"

"The true beauty in leadership is being able to discern when to pull back and not give teachers things they don't need. There is a balance that great principals learn, and because of that balance, they generally have happy teachers in their classrooms. My favorite principals have intentionally held back four things that I never wanted or needed. "

"By creating intentional spaces for feedback and revision cycles in my classroom, students now think critically and authentically about their writing, which has led to diminishing the disconnect between how teachers and students define effective writing feedback. In my tenth-grade English classroom, we study multiple genres of authentic writing. After I give feedback on each draft of a piece of writing, I ask students to respond to two prompts:"

"How to make conferencing on essays with 30 students manageable and effective-and the unexpected benefit conferences can bring."

"Morone, with the backing of the high school district's administration, has developed an "open classroom" curriculum for all of the sophomore honors English students where students are given independence to demonstrate they have mastered the same standards the school has been using for years. "We are using the same core texts, the same curriculum designed by the school and approved by the board of education - but the way we are approaching the curriculum is very different," Morone said. "The first word that has to be put out there about it is that it is non-linear." Dr. Barry Bachenheimer, the regional director of curriculum in the district, said Morone's class is part of a "larger idea" of allowing flexibility to foster learning in the Pascack Valley High School District - which includes the "Pascack Period," a weekly 88-minute period where students can study, work out or sign up for non-traditional classes taught by teachers and even students. "

"McPhee has now published more than thirty books, work that first appeared in the pages of The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1963. He's written about Alaska (Coming into the Country), the Swiss Army (La Place de la Concorde Suisse), and an island in Scotland's Inner Hebrides (The Crofter and the Laird). His subjects have included the atomic bomb, the environmental movement, the U.S. Merchant Marine, Russian art, and fishing. Four books on geology. Three on transport. Two on sports. One book entirely about oranges. He has received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Annals of the Former World, his comprehensive survey of North American geology. His work has inspired generations of nonfiction writers, and he has distinguished himself especially as a teacher of literary journalism." This is an interview with him about writing and teaching.

NY state resources for the common core - k-8 for now but good frameworks and test blueprints

Teacher Knows if You've Done the E-Reading

Cool idea - my son Connor has a reading and writing buddy who is in 7th grade.

avoiding the praise sandwich

Good example of standards based Socratic seminars

Change in Education

"Poetry promotes literacy, builds community, and fosters emotional resilience. It can cross boundaries that little else can. April is National Poetry Month. Bring some poetry into your hearts, homes, classrooms and schools. Here are five reasons why we need poetry in our schools."

simple ideas to improve grading and learning

great videos for standards, seminars, reflection, etc

Writing rubrics aligned to the standards