Op-Ed Contributors - There’s Only One Way to Stop a Bully - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Contributors - There’s Only One Way to Stop a Bully - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Tweet Less, Kiss More - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Tweet Less, Kiss More - NYTimes.com

Bob Herbert encourages us to listen to the sounds of silence and reconnect with our humanity in a classic technology vs. soul argument.

On Facebook, Telling Teachers How Much They Meant - NYTimes.com

On Facebook, Telling Teachers How Much They Meant - NYTimes.com

A feel-good article about students connecting with their old teachers years later...

Op-Ed Columnist - The Medium Is the Medium - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - The Medium Is the Medium - NYTimes.com

Brooks examines the impact of physical books on the academic success of young people. How does the internet factor in?

The Times publishes letters in response: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/opinion/l13brooks.html?ref=opinion

Educational Leadership:Good Teaching in Action:Reading That Refreshes

Educational Leadership:Good Teaching in Action:Reading That Refreshes

Some reading suggestions and lists for summer reading and replenishing the libraries...

Op-Ed Columnist - Miami’s Hoops Cartel - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Miami’s Hoops Cartel - NYTimes.com
Maureen Dowd on Lebronathon

Teaching in a Consumerocracy

The latest English Journal issue is about the role of English teachers in our age of consumerocracy. Most of the good articles in this issue are not about specific teaching strategies, but more about teaching stances and the choices we make about what to teach and how to frame the conversation. Additionally, some of these articles have implications for our teaching of social studies content. In short, it is effectively a very "humanities" issue. Articles that stood out and worth a read:

• "The Ebay-ification of Education: Critical Literacy in a Consumerocracy" by 5 authors... This is a broad-view look at schools as conforming to the consumerocracy and makes its point by mixing argument, theory, and memoir. It rouses the college student within.
• "From the Editor" by Ken Lindlom... Lindblom's introduction to the issue provides a rationale for teaching about our culture of consumption as English teachers and provides an example of a good lesson plan called "Who are you wearing?"
• "The Story of Stuff: Reading Advertisements through Critical Eyes" by Shannon Cuf and Heather Statz begins by retelling the story of the trampled Black Friday shopper in 2008 and asking what happens to us in our "quest for stuff". The authors suggest a number of good resources, including documentaries and print ads.

Two other articles deviate from the issue's theme, but deal with the issue of writing and how much structure we should or should not impose on our teaching of writing to students:

• "Rethinking a Writing Teacher's Expertise: Following Students under the Kitchen Table" by Maja Wilson uses the extended metaphor of a nurse "going with the mother" to deliver a baby rather than forcing the baby out on the nurse's terms. Yes, even Wilson acknowledges that this is amusing... However, she is an advocate of a holistic and authentic approach to assessing writing and meeting kids where they are. Not into rubrics.
• "Persistence of the Five-Paragraph Essay" by Jeanetta Miller... Miller wonders why this kind of writing, which "does not exist in the real world" still holds so much sway in our schools.
  

Useful DOE Curriculum Resources

The Department of Education released a short manual to complement the new middle school library we received one copy of at the beginning of the year. After thumbing through it I think that it can provide solid support for developing the ELA side of our curriculum. The "core texts" identified in the guide come with a wealth of teaching ideas, essential questions, and strategies, and in some cases complement historical units we are studying. This may be something you want to take a look at and something we can discuss as a team for our future planning.

In addition, the DOE has posted sample units of study based on "trade book units" for Social Studies. Schools had the option of purchasing textbooks or trade books a few years back as the basis for SS curriculum. Here you can find examples of units, which may be helpful for thinking about how you plan a unit and the considerations you make when planning. These units also offer various templates that may help you get started.

Some other helpful resources from the DOE will be archived on the right sidebar.

Blog 3.0

Welcome to the third incarnation of the Humanities Team Blog. I think this is the best one yet. On the right sidebar you will find links to the best of the edublogs, which have the latest news and updates on a variety of different topics. Above that are "curriculum resources", which will link to "delicious" pages of links for text and other resources pertaining to a particular unit of study.

You can post about anything and apply an appropriate tag to it. We can see how it goes. The more we post the more we grow'st.

Practice, Practice, Practice (Or: Homework, Homework, Homework?)

A good summary of Marzano's main points about the purposes of homework and what makes good homework. The homework debate continues to simmer and one of the main issues these days seems to be about the perceptions the community holds about homework and its relationship to "rigorous classrooms". Experts generally agree that homework does not hold purpose if it is not practice and if it cannot be assessed (or if students cannot receive feedback on it), yet many parents and even some educators still believe that if homework is not coming home with students in a given class, then that class is not providing a rigorous enough academic experience. What do you think?