tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2284837106090895124.post8327388043613994180..comments2024-02-23T00:36:49.934-08:00Comments on Throughlines: Are You Serious?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2284837106090895124.post-9340597044265716542007-11-21T06:03:00.000-08:002007-11-21T06:03:00.000-08:00English skills are huge in our district; they've b...English skills are huge in our district; they've become so in the last three to five years. Our administration's mantra is that every teacher is a reading and writing teacher. Face it, you can't do anything if you can't read (word problems, biology text, history articles, physics lab instructions). Of course, English teachers have known this forever. I am so thankful for our students that it is becoming more commonplace knowledge in other disciplines.<BR/>As for not completing assignments, etc., I think it goes back to the nature of the beast. Math problems. There are 15 of them. You either did or did not do them. Novel chapters 1-5; you can, arguably, take part in a discussion even if you've only heard about their contents from a classmate.<BR/>The upside of that (at least to me) is that stories are infinitely more interesting than math problems. No offense, math teachers! I'll gladly trade that my kids can come to class some days underprepared but still have an interesting discussion with the ease at which I'd be able to tell if they had prepared fully followed by not-so interesting discussion.<BR/>That's just my personal preference :).<BR/>English remains the only required class through the senior year - so even if kids put the homework last from time to time, heck, at least they keep us on the schedule until they're done!ZPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11872717036076663372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2284837106090895124.post-62073248140934829102007-11-16T20:36:00.000-08:002007-11-16T20:36:00.000-08:00Fascinating. English may be taking a back seat at ...Fascinating. English may be taking a back seat at some schools, but in many schools it rules the roost. Perhaps it's just the handful of schools at which I've taught, but I have had the opposite experience. Students take their English work extremely seriously, on the cue of how the school has structured its offerings and the personalities leading their English departments.<BR/><BR/>Thank you providing an alternative to the traditional definitions of "rigor," even if it was unintentional!<BR/><BR/>RichardKassissiehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10100401203383636778noreply@blogger.com