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12 things that need to change

Posted Thursday, March 06, 2008 7:32 PM by jtspencer
Sometimes I feel as if I don't fit into the system of education. I wonder if I am just crazy or if I am part of a silent minority (perhaps even majority) who feel the same way. So, I am making a list of paradigm shifts that I think many teachers, administrators Read More...
3 Comments

learning to write

Posted Saturday, December 29, 2007 5:18 PM by jtspencer
Ever since I was little, I had an easy time writing. For some reason, the words came to me quickly, with little need to learn an organizational structure. A vocabulary was like a candy store, where two things that were virtually identical had slightly Read More...
1 Comments

Jesus at Jefferson High

Posted Thursday, December 20, 2007 4:24 PM by jtspencer
I’m sitting at my computer reading an editorial for grad school. The man is trying to justify why teaching is a science and not an art. I find it insulting, but I am engaged. I can tell that he wants to believe that, if teachers received the perfect training Read More...
2 Comments
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what Shakira taught me about education

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 8:59 PM by jtspencer
I am embaressed to admit it, but I like Shakira - and not in the way that most men usually think about Shakira. No, it's not the rock hard abs and belly dancing that impresses me. Instead, I actually like her music. (For the record, I also like chick Read More...
3 Comments

one hundred blogs of solitude

Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 6:31 PM by jtspencer
Solitude is missing from current educational system. Students, while they are at school, must plough through book work, handouts and lectures in a ridiculous pace. Everything is disjointed and disconnected, often taught in subjects that are irrelevant Read More...
2 Comments

when is it okay to be confusing?

Posted Thursday, October 11, 2007 6:32 AM by jtspencer
After reading the answers from Bell Work, I feel confident that my students know the causes of World War II. We engage in a dodge ball type game that enables them to see imperialism and colonialism. I allow them to break into alliances to teach the alliance Read More...
1 Comments

letting students make decisions

Posted Saturday, September 15, 2007 5:58 AM by jtspencer
Twenty students claim their favorite seats within minutes of the lunch bell ringing. The skeptic in me initially assumes that it is a first week rush, a desire to get out of the one-hundred and ten degree heat. The students will find out that our Student Read More...
1 Comments

Is blogging just another fad?

Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2007 9:12 PM by jtspencer
Every few years, the educational community chooses a catchy new trend and markets it as the greatest method students will ever experience. When I was a child, the trend was writing in journals. As I grew older, it was graphic organizers. Later, Word Walls Read More...
2 Comments

making a class website more interactive

Posted Friday, September 07, 2007 8:25 PM by jtspencer
When I first began teaching, I used the class website as a way to communicate with students. It was very teacher-oriented and I was proud of the work I had accomplished. When I realized that I wanted student involvement, I decided that I would allow them Read More...
4 Comments

Can learning be measured?

Posted Thursday, September 06, 2007 4:49 PM by jtspencer
Sitting in a staff meeting, I pull out the agenda and begin drawing cartoons. Instead of reading PowerPoint presentations, we work collaboratively (read "group think") on a school wide mission statement. "Make sure it is attainable, measurable and . . Read More...
4 Comments

the solution for tagging

Posted Friday, August 31, 2007 4:45 AM by jtspencer
I ride past a freshly plowed empty field and see a large corrugated fence that advertises the latest neophyte tagging crew in sloppy, choppy letters. I don’t know what is the worst of these aesthetic crimes – the graffiti on the walls or the fact that Read More...
3 Comments

why I don't do rewards

Posted Sunday, August 19, 2007 7:05 AM by jtspencer
Birthdays are important to me. Unlike other American holidays, they do not require reciprocity. There is no give-and-take, no social contract; nothing that says, "our gifts better be equal, because if they don't, I'll either feel gyped or guilty." Unlike Read More...
4 Comments

Why"Aha!" Moments Are Overrated

Posted Tuesday, August 14, 2007 4:04 AM by jtspencer
When I first learned to type, I never had any "aha!" moments. There were no brilliant epiphanies with a choir of angels and bells and whistles. Slowly, begrudgingly, I tapped away using the proper format. Finally, it was a part of my motor memory and Read More...
1 Comments

I am not a Robot

Posted Monday, August 13, 2007 6:22 AM by jtspencer
For the last two hours, I have been converting my format for lesson plans (which include the standard, the essential question, the objectives, a few inclusion pieces and a very structured outline) into the school-mandated, heavy-handed SIOP format. I'm Read More...
6 Comments

the good life

Posted Saturday, August 11, 2007 6:46 AM by jtspencer
I'm breaking the rules of blogging ettique, by creating a long post. Yet, I don't think I can explain the story in a shorter format. Maybe it's just not meant for a blog. It's the first week of school and I have a class of forty-one students for a scripted, Read More...
2 Comments
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