Monthly Archives: November 2007
Sticking My Neck Out
The incomparable Taylor Mali, in his poem What Teachers Make, explains that: I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it. A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine … Continue reading
Grammar Wednesday
I’m still so amazed by the blatant plagiarism from yesterday that I’ve not been able to even consider a Grammar Wednesday topic, so I’ll recap yesterday’s writing tips to my composition students as they consider their final research papers: 1. … Continue reading
Filed under about writing, Grammar, great writing, Learning, Teaching
Plagiarism
It’s been a day, kids. Mrs. Chili got to deal with her first ever case of blatant plagiarism at TCC. The student in question – we’ll call her Jane – has been a problem for me all semester, not because … Continue reading
Filed under colleagues, concerns, frustrations, I love my boss, student chutzpah, Yikes!
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream…
I’m starting Hamlet with my literature class on Tuesday. I run my lit. class thematically. Rather than going through the basics – the elements of fiction and the structure and characteristics of different genres; all stuff they should have covered … Continue reading
Filed under film as literature, great writing, Literature
Grammar Wednesday, Dinner Time!
I’ve been stuck on this website for DAYS now. If you haven’t seen it yet – and have not yet been sucked into the geeky, humanitarian vortex which it creates – please do go and check it out. For the … Continue reading
Filed under fun, Grammar, little bits of nothingness, out in the real world
An Informal Reader Query
Gentle Readers, I’ve a question to pose. Frumteacher asked me, in a comment she posted today, what I intended to teach in next semester’s literature class. The question brought me up a little short. To be honest, I’d not really … Continue reading
Filed under Literature, Poetry, popular culture, Questions, self-analysis, Teaching
It’s Not EXACTLY What I Wanted…
… but it’s still a literature class! I just got off the phone with Joe, my boss, about my schedule for next semester. I was really hoping for that Monday night literature class – running, as I was, on the … Continue reading
Filed under I love my boss, Literature, success!, Teaching
A Little Too Good to Be True
Yeah, I’ll admit it; my semester hasn’t been all puppies and rainbows. I’ve been a lot more casual with my students this semester. My classes have been smaller and, partly because of the more intimate environment that smaller classes encourage, … Continue reading
Filed under concerns, frustrations, Learning, student chutzpah, Teaching
Grammar Wednesday
For two of my favorite men! Falcon mentioned the other day that he’s not sure what the difference is between an objective and a subjective pronoun is, so I’m going to do a little refresher course for him – and, … Continue reading
Either My Test Was Too Easy…
… or my composition kids have been paying attention! The lowest grade from my composition class’s mid-term exams was a 70. They STILL haven’t quite figured out the subjective vs. objective pronoun thing yet, and they still don’t know the … Continue reading
Filed under admiration, Questions, success!, the good ones
