In my last post, I wrote about the futility of trying to be objective when grading student writing. The point I make is that teachers must bring their professional judgments to bear on writing as they grade it. Teachers must be completely, intentionally, and unapologetically subjective in their responses to student writing. But with that… Read More »The Importance of Being Humble When Grading
Many newer teachers and non-specialists believe that above all else, teachers should be objective when they grade student writing. That is, they should grade based on fact, not bias. After all, this kind of thinking goes, isn’t it wrong to judge student work subjectively, bringing one’s own thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives to bear on student… Read More »Grading Student Writing Objectively: A Myth and a Trap
Read Part I First. Teaching Fail #6: Being a Pedantic Hard Ass The Story: This story goes way back to when I was student teaching in East Hampton, New York in 1988. My cooperating teacher had a speech class that he asked me to take over. I used his assignment for the students, which required a speech of between… Read More »My Top 10 Early-Career Teaching Fails, and What New Teachers Can Learn From Them, Part II (6-10)
Teaching Fail #1: Oversleeping During my first year of teaching high school English full-time, I had a few recurring fears. Oddly enough, one was that I would be incapacitated by a 15-25-sneeze-long sneezing fit and completely lose control of a class. This didn’t happen in my early years of teaching (although it since has, and was fine).… Read More »My Top 10 Early-Career Teaching Fails, and What New Teachers Can Learn From Them Part I (1-5)
I first attended the Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English in 1989, as a second year high school English teacher. It was like a nerdy dream come true! Thousands of fellow teachers passionate, good-humored, and smart about teaching English. I discovered aspects of the field I had no idea existed. I… Read More »Prepping for the NCTE Convention!
Check out this post I published on the Writers Who Care Website: School Writing Vs. Authentic Writing
Below is a statement I sent on the morning after the US Presidential election to my colleagues at Stony Brook University. Perhaps other educators might find it useful. As always, my views do not necessarily represent Stony Brook University or any of its agents or subsidiaries. Dear Colleagues, Last night the nation spoke and elected… Read More »A Statement for Educators on the 2016 Presidential Election
There’s simply no question that one of the primary challenges of teaching is coping with the constant barrage of grading and responding to student writing. I love teaching and I even love reading student writing; but like every teacher I know, I HATE having a stack of papers waiting for me. Those papers weigh on… Read More »5 Tips for Managing the Grading Grind
“You’ve been late to class several times recently. Are you OK? “You seem to be in a really bad mood today. Are you OK?” “Your score on that exam isn’t showing how smart you really are. Are you OK?” “Your behavior in class today was really poor. Are you OK?” When I have a problem… Read More »“Are You OK?”: Caring for the Whole Student
I’m very happy to share the news that Making the Journey: Being and Becoming a Teacher of English Language Arts, Fourth Edition, co-authored by Leila Christenbury and me, is now available for purchase at Heinemann. The book is available in print and as an ebook, and Heinemann has a good package deal for both. There… Read More »Making the Journey: Now Available
