Failing grades are my fault?

I find it comical that right before grades get sent out to parents, students REALLY start to care about their grades. They want to see how bad their grades are, and then argue with me about how bad they are.

What I don't understand is...when students have failing grades because they haven't turned in multiple assignments, how is it MY fault? I had a student this afternoon blame ME for her 16% average, because I did not come to her individually to tell her when her assignments are due. Writing the due dates on the board and announcing them in class daily was obviously not good enough.

I just wonder how many other teachers are blamed for not telling their students individually when to turn in assignments..........

Facing Social Networks

I came across this post entitled "facebook is not a seedy, back-alley teen club" on Dawn Hogue's blog The Polliwog that reiterates some of our discussion in class the other day about the use of Facebook.

Please read!

Stepping up to Writing?

Please click below for two samples of Step up to Writing in action.

• A Loyal Pioneer for my English 11 class
• Hollywood to the Rescue for my Pre-AP English 10 class. Yes, my Holly was the inspiration for this character!

Good luck with using this method!

Thoughts on Richardson's essay...

I agree with Richardson when he says that "digital footprints" are becoming more and more "woven" into our lives. The things that you find online about poeople are definately, in a sense, like a portfolio of your life to date. I do think that what is put on the internet can be both a good and bad thing. This article should make people stop and think about things that are posted on various internet sites. We can and should be able to turn this "digital footprinting" into a positive learning experience for all different ages.

Staying Safe Online

Please go to this link and read another English teacher's (Dana Huff from Georgia) comments about Internet Safety.

Just could not say this any better myself!

Make-up Class...thinking digitally

To make up for last week's class, please read Footprints in a Digital Age, an essay written by blogger Will Richardson. I also emailed this essay to your email.

Upon finishing the essay, please blog your thoughts: do you buy..or blog... into Richardson's thoughts?

Please be prepared to report in class on Thursday on your continued use of poetry and graphic organizers within your class(es). We also have a reading assignment due: Classroom Instruction That Works ~ Ch. 10 and Instructional Strategies ~ pg. 183+.

Remember Tuesday is Election Day...using this unique election as a topic-starter within your classes?

Have a great week extending minds!