Today, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that UNLV will begin a new class next year, a required freshman orientation course. The class looks like a seminar designed to acclimate students to college life and work, focusing on the purposes of higher education and the skills required to succeed there. A local talk radio host ripped [...]
Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
Defending UNLV’s New Freshman Orientation
Posted in Education, tagged college, educational standards, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Review-Journal, mill, UNLV on November 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Voluntary Martyr Teachers
Posted in Education, tagged effective teaching, productivity, teaching, work on November 8, 2011 | 4 Comments »
In my first few years of teaching, I tried to be one those Hero Teachers–the guy who stays at work ten hours a day, who goes in sometimes on Saturdays, who takes tons of work home and grades while he tries to unwind at night. During that third or fourth year, a scary thought hit [...]
Scrutiny in Teaching Writing
Posted in Education, Language and Literature, tagged English, National Review, teaching, writing, writing process on November 5, 2011 | 3 Comments »
A post at National Review, and some great follow up comments from readers, offers some great ideas about teaching writing: The only way to address writing is to give line-by-line feedback. We cannot assume that students know what good writing looks like. Every time students pass a written assignment at any level with subpar writing, such [...]
Yes, You Pay My Salary. No, You Are Not My Boss.
Posted in Education, tagged parents, schools, teachers on September 20, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I cringe when I hear people say of teachers, “My taxes pay their salary–they need to be more cooperative and responsive to my needs!” What this really means is, “Give me what I want.” What’s so wrong with that? It’s wrong because schools are not customer satisfaction factories. Our job is to educate future generations, even [...]
Crucible Joke
Posted in Education, Humor, Language and Literature, tagged American Literature, American Literature Honors, Arthur Miller, jokes, The Crucible on September 8, 2011 | 1 Comment »
This year, I’m starting my American Lit Honors classes with The Crucible, the classic play about the Salem Witch Trials. I usually end my introduction to it with a joke like this: “So this is a story about desperate, repressed, stressed-out people crowded into a little village in a hostile wilderness, whose desire for excitement [...]
Spot the Red Flags
Posted in Education, Humor on August 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Even at the start of a promising new year, one can’t hep but spot the occasional red flags; signs that a student will have problems–or cause problems–down the road. At one of my UNLV remedial writing classes yesterday, I asked students to fill out an information card, as I do with all classes. One young [...]
The First Day of School, By the Numbers
Posted in Education, tagged class size on August 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I met 295 new people yesterday. My six high school classes are all very large, but that’s certainly the norm these days. That plus my two college classes puts me pretty close to 300. Here’s the breakdown: English II Honors (sophomores–three sections): 41, 44, and 37 students American Literature Honors (juniors–two sections): 35 and 42 [...]
New Class of 2015 Mindset List
Posted in Education, Humor, Random, tagged Beloit, college, Mindset List on August 23, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Beloit College has just released their new guide for faculty to understand this year’s incoming freshmen: the Mindset List, 75 facts about today’s students. The top ten are: There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway. Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents. States and Velcro parents have always been [...]
50 Things New Teachers Need To Know
Posted in Education on August 16, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Reposted from August 2008 Now that August is here, I’m thinking about the imminent start of the new school year. For years I’ve watched new teachers start their first year with no clue about how to manage all that gets thrown at them, and I’ve wanted to have something to give them, samizdat style, that [...]
50 More Things New Teachers Need To Know
Posted in Education on August 16, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Reposted from July 2009 “Don’t hit the kids and don’t hit on the kids.” If I had to summarize my best advice about teaching in just one saying, that would be it. However, last summer’s post, 50 Things New Teachers Need To Know, went into a bit more detail and has now garnered thousands of hits, [...]
Great Letter From A Teacher
Posted in Education, tagged educational standards, No Child Left Behind, student achievement, teaching, testing on August 12, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Today, the Las Vegas Review-Journal ran a letter from a teacher about standards and testing. It was both touching and practical. Her story ends like this: Let’s get back to studying science, teaching cursive writing, the stock market, great literature and history, and a remarkable thing will happen: Teachers will love to teach again and [...]
Two New Quotes For You
Posted in Education, tagged Chronicle of Higher Education, City Journal, phonics, reading, teaching on August 9, 2011 | 1 Comment »
From Sol Stern’s “A Solution for Gotham’s Reading Woes,” City Journal, Summer 2011: Noting that SAT reading scores nose-dived in the 1960s and have remained flat ever since, Hirsch blames the nation’s education schools. “Our teachers and administrators are taught brilliant slogans like ‘rote regurgitation of mere facts’ which make factual knowledge sound objectionable,” Hirsch [...]
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