I posted a few days ago about the CRAFTS Process for prompt writing, and I ended my post by saying I use another type of essay which helps prevent plagiarism. I use the personal essay, much like the ones colleges ask students to compose for their college applications. When teaching a novel I focus [...]

With the popularity of the internet and the ever-increasing access to it, students are using it for less than honest reasons. Although a great many students remain honest and complete their own work, a growing number have resorted to cheating by using papers off the internet and using others’ research. According to one study on [...]

Maybe he’ll catch Rama. Or touch the Monolith. Or become a part of Foundation. No matter what he does next–in the next world or during the next life–Arthur C. Clarke will be missed. I remember discovering Clarke’s works just after I turned seven or eight. I had just finished my first “adult book,” ...

My American Literature class is still giving me grief. Only 19 of 32 students initially turned in the summary (that number is now 27 out of 32), and now only 18 of 32 turned in the thesis paragraph assigned two weeks ago. Grrr! After I call all the parents, I’m not sure what I’ll do. These [...]

Is it possible to create a culture of failure? My school is currently being asked to discover why the Freshman failure rate is so high. 1/3 of the Freshmen failed a class during their first semester in high school, and statistically speaking 30% of Freshmen who fail a course in their first high school year do [...]

Eureka! I created a way to keep my bulletin boards changing frequently without increasing my workload. I know it’s not rocket science or a monumental unearthing of educational knowledge, but I got the students to do the work. I copied off a lengthy list of events, people, and items dealing with the 1920s in preparation for [...]

Recently, I sat down with one of our counselors and discussed the numerous reasons for so many freshman failures and failures in general. Of course, the normal reasons sprang up: student apathy, teacher ineffectiveness, absences, disconnections from school, and more. The one that bothered me the most, surprising as it may seem, is a failure to ...