Monthly Archives: August 2009

“Teach”

August 30, 2009
By
“Teach”

Back when I was in school, we had an expression that sort of rolled all together into one word, the expressions “I told you so,” “Ha ha,” (as in Nelson Muntz), “what goes around comes around,” and teaching someone a lesson (in the street sense, not the school sense). We called it, Teach! “Man, that was a teach when Mr. Jones asked for my hall pass…and I had it. He sooo wanted to bust me, but I was ready.” Or more currently, “It’s quite a teach when those house flippers who thought they could make an easy buck in the crazy real estate market with someone else’s money get burned.” Or, “I did some teaching on the golf course yesterday.” (Actually I don’t golf.) Or when you’re having an argument and you’re proven correct by outside evidence or a third party. Teach! We also used to add a little flourish by curving the index finger into a hook, and twisting the wrist as we said it. Tayeeech! Today they used the word schooled, but it just isn’t quite so versatile and all-in-one, in my humble opinion. Anyway, yesterday I did some teaching to a police officer. (Yes, it’s been quite

Read more »

Sheep

August 27, 2009
By

Another first day of school. It’s actually kind of fun (except for the getting up @ 5 am part). The seventh graders are all in their seats well before the passing period is over, and they’re still so eager, and not…well…eighth graders. The eighth graders I flunked last year (sad to say that number has averaged about 15% over the last 16 years) have all gone to summer school so they can be eighth graders, but they don’t hold a grudge. “Hi Mr. Coward. You gave me an F last year, but you’re still my favorite teacher. How are the sevvies this year? They seem so short.” “That’s what the eighth graders said about you last year.” First day highlights: Our new principal (third one in three years) seems to have our unruly staff well in hand so far. (It’s still early.) I have a student this year whose oldest brother I had during my first year at this school. Sixteen years ago! His brother is 28! I have the fifth sibling from the same family this year. I thought it was number six, but I miscounted. “I hope you’re the last one.”  He is. “Did I get all of

Read more »

“Rock Star”

August 25, 2009
By

Well, here we go again. Tomorrow’s a teacher “work” day — I hope it’s more work time than meeting time– and then the kids start Thursday. What am I going to do with a 2-day “week”? How are we going to establish a groove in 2 days? I know, I know. I should be happy for short weeks like this. But at the beginning of the year, we are trying to establish some routines: homework into planner on Mondays, pink sheets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, vocabulary on Wednesdays, and so forth. Anyway… This year, I waited the longest time ever before going in to school. I went in yesterday, and of course I’m mobbed almost instantly. It’s like those Intel ads, where they say, “Our rock stars aren’t like your rock stars,” or some such, as the inventor of the USB (or at least an actor playing him) struts through the Intel offices amid oohs and ahs and adulation. Well sort of like that. Not. “Desiree needs her LCD projector to work, and Mr. Cheese can’t print, and I need you to tell me what Anna needs for her computer. Also, Julee’s computer has locked up and IST has had

Read more »

Hey Kid! (Guest Speaker)

August 17, 2009
By

OK. We’re down to 9 days. We start in the middle of the week because our district is moving to – after two union-wide votes – a two-week spring break. I voted against it for just this starting-too-early-in-August-shtuff (among other reasons), but truth be told, I’m sort of itching to get back to work. It keeps me out of trouble. Though I am quite enjoying all the sleeping in. But ouch. Nine days. As I have said, I’ve been getting e-mails with questions, and over the next week or so, I’ll be covering more of those topics (600 words, more KBAR, grading essays). This will get me in the groove for the rapidly approaching school year, and that’s a necessary thing. Meanwhile, here’s a presentation from a guest speaker whom I respect very much. I “met” him through an e-mail listserv. Old school, I know. I signed up for the Middle-L listserv about 4 or 5 years ago as part of one of the requirements for the EETT grant we got back then. I’ve stuck around ever since. The list might go days or weeks with any action, but I’ve enjoyed reading almost everything that gets posted. My fave contributor

Read more »

Mailbag: Vocabulary and Grammar

August 5, 2009
By
Mailbag: Vocabulary and Grammar

(Continuing a previous post, answering questions from a new teacher. The first question was about the KBAR independent reading program. Click here if you’re interested in that one.) Question: Pedagogically speaking, when do you teach grammar? Or is it something that simply presents itself at an opportune time? I was thinking of something like Grammar Wednesdays or something at the very beginning of the year, but I’m not sure what that would actually entail quite yet. “Something that simply presents itself at an opportune time?” As Nelson Muntz of Simpsons fame would say, “Haw Haw.” You do get a lot of what they call, “teachable moments” in middle school, but not many of them involve grammar. Do your best to connect to whatever else you’re doing (“Ponyboy is narrating in first person, so his PRONOUNS…”), but you also have to make it part of the routine. One of the few things I actually use that came with our anthology is the book of grammar worksheets. I write my own warm ups and pretests and quizzes and such for grammar, but the worksheets (we call them pink sheets because my student assistant a few years ago decided that “all grammar sheets

Read more »

Random Featured Post

Quizzes for Dummies?

A few years ago, while we were reading Outsiders aloud, I was about to give them my usual “reading check” type quiz to make sure they were following along, thinking about what we’d talked about, connecting the literary terms to the examples in the book, etc. I can’t quite remember what my inspiration was (probably just to throw them for a loop like I like to do), but I decided to let them “cheat.” My quizzes on the books and stories we read are always open book, but this time I told them they could take the quiz, not only open book, but “open mouth.” I told them they could talk about the questions and answers as much as they want in any way they want, and decide however they want to, which of the answers to choose. “You can share what you know…or not. You can decide whether to heed the wisdom of the group…or not. You just can’t lie. You can’t knowingly tell everyone the wrong answer on purpose.” One class that day came up with the name Quiz for Dummies. The rest of the periods thought that was a little “mean,” so we’ve stuck with Open Mouth. [...]

more -->


Mr. Coward has been teaching on the beautiful central coast of California since 1989.

Archives

August 2009
M T W T F S S
« Jul   Sep »
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  

Recent Comments