high schools
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Dressing the part
As I have now returned home to Minnesota (and landed a new teaching gig there) this little classroom escapade from a few years back in New Orleans resonates even more. A good start-of-a-new-school-year memory from the Marchives. Friday was a ‘dress down’ day at school – pay five bucks for the privilege of wearing your… Continue reading
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Shakespeare: tragedy, comedy…and this.
While getting my sophomore English classes ready to tackle Julius Caesar, we spend time wrapping up our unit on poetry with some Shakespearean sonnets, and then dive into a two-day crash-course in Elizabethan English, in part using a series of Elizabethan-to-Contemporary English ‘cheat sheets’. It makes for a nice segue from unit to unit and… Continue reading
classroom behavior, Education, English II, forsooth, high school sophomores, high schools, hither and yon, inner city schools, prithee, public schools, schools, Shakespeare, Shakespeare in high school, students, students and teachers, teacher, Teaching, teaching Shakespeare, TeachNOLA, William Shakespeare -
Shades of Black and White
It was late summer, 1979, and my friend Johnny was dying. Our star fullback in high school, heavyweight wrestling champ, all around BMOC, sat there before me, slumped, in a wheelchair in his parent’s Denver living room. His once chiseled, athletic frame was basically down to half of the 215 pounds he burst through opposing… Continue reading
A Teacher in New Orleans, Characters that helped shape mine, Philosophication, Relationships, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing and writersblack and white student friendships, black friends, class of 1977, classroom behavior, classroom oddities, Denver South Class of ’77, Denver South High School, Education, high schools, inner city high school students, inner city schools, Johnny Wilkins, learning, New Orleans, perspective, public schools, racial issues in school, racial reconciliation, teacher, Teaching, teaching high school English, TeachNOLA, writers and writing, youth -
Schoolyear Homestretch: They Know Not of What They Speak. Or Write.
The discussion in my predominately black, tenth grade classroom was focused on racism. We have been working our way through the book A Lesson Before Dying, a wonderful 1994 Pulitzer nominee about a rural Louisiana black man sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Set in 1947, the story pre-dates the Civil Rights… Continue reading
Book report, books, classroom behavior, classroom foibles, correcting student work, creative writing, Education, grammar issues, high schools, inner city schools, learn, learning, library books, Lucker, Martin Luther King, mishearing things, New Orleans, parent teacher conferences, parents and teachers, public schools, racism, Rosa Parks, school librarians, schools, student work, students, students and teachers, teacher, Teaching, teaching creative writing, TeachNOLA, truth is stranger than fiction, writing -
Conversation
“How many students of yours have been killed?” Her tone was inquisitive, non-invasive. “A dozen” I replied softly, taking a deep hit on my bottle of Coke. She sighed, audibly. “At least nine” I clarified. “Nine that I have seen the obit on, story on the news, newspaper article about. Nine.” I was running through… Continue reading
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Dressing the part
Friday was a ‘dress down’ day at school – pay five bucks for the privilege of wearing your favorite pro or college team jersey and jeans. Yee-ha! My inner city New Orleans high school kids know nothing of hockey, so I was interested in gauging their response to me wearing my U of M… Continue reading
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“Texting, one, two…really?”
For those of you who have followed our saga as teachers the past eight-plus years, and for those who have read my book (‘Do You Know What it Means, to Teach new Orleans?’ http://lrd.to/do-you-know-what-it-means ) know that we have our share of offbeat stories to tell. Classroom stories and oddities galore, to be sure, but… Continue reading
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It’s all the rage
A few years back, prompted by the writings of my erstwhile high school seniors at the time, I coined a new phrase for a phenomenon I never knew existed. Two-plus years later, the spectacle I envisioned then came back to my classroom (an entirely different locale and temperament than where the original story occurred) via… Continue reading
classroom behavior, classroom oddities, Education, high schools, inner city high school students, inner city schools, learning, McDonalds, New Orleans, perspective, public schools, road rage and Sprite Rage, Ronald McDonald, Ronald McDonald arrested, Sprite, Sprite Rage, students, teacher, Teaching, teaching high school English, TeachNOLA, writers and writing, youth -
Inspirare
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.” – Robert Herrick, 1591 – 1674 as quoted in the film Dead Poet’s Society Along with many others, I mourn the recent death of Robin Williams. I have seen a lot of… Continue reading
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It’s all the rage these days
Prompted by the writings of my erstwhile high school seniors, I coined a new phrase for a phenomenon I never knew existed. ‘Sprite Rage’ It all started with a simple start of class, ‘Do Now’ writing prompt one day a few weeks back. When my students come in, there is a prompt up on the… Continue reading
classroom behavior, classroom oddities, Education, high schools, inner city high school students, inner city schools, learning, McDonalds, New Orleans, perspective, public schools, road rage and Sprite Rage, Ronald McDonald, Ronald McDonald arrested, Sprite, Sprite Rage, students, teacher, Teaching, teaching high school English, TeachNOLA, writers and writing, youth