Matt
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Why We Should Let Students In On Our Pedagogy
This last semester I unwittingly began what has turned out to be a rather surprising pedagogical experiment. In short, over my career I have generally tried to keep my teaching and my writing about teaching lives separate. The reasoning behind… Continue reading
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Why Our Students Forget and What It Means for How We Teach Writing
Let’s start with a test: Continue reading
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Why Students Often Struggle With Peer Review and What We Can Do About It
When I was an education school student, I feel quickly and deeply in love with Nancy Atwell’s In the Middle thanks to quotes like this: We laid down the old, stodgy burdens of the profession—the Warriner’s Handbooks, the forty- five minute… Continue reading
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I Write to Learn What I Think: Why Our Classrooms Need a Lot More Learning Through Writing
“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” -Flannery O’Connor One of the biggest misconceptions that many people hold about writing is that it is mainly a vehicle for recording and sharing what… Continue reading
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The Most Overlooked Yet Important Writing Instruction Stat I’ve Ever Seen
The massive 2011 “Nation’s Report Card” on writing contains a number of striking statistics. Among other things it found that… But tucked in amongst all of these stats–as a mere footnote–is one of the most important stats I’ve ever seen… Continue reading
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Writing Essays Should Be Fun
The iconic writing resource They Say/I Say, begins with a quote by literary theorist and poet Kenneth Burke where he likens academic discussion to a dinner party… You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they… Continue reading
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Why Students Brag About Not Doing Work (And What We Can Do About It)
We’ve all probably heard it. “I didn’t even study for this, and I still got a B…” “I wrote this entire thing an hour before class. I don’t even know what is in it…” “I haven’t’ read a book all… Continue reading
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The Game-Changing Teaching Tool That Is the Micro Conference
Nearly every teacher I know likes the idea of conferencing with students. When we talk one-on-one with students we can clarify messages, correct misconceptions, build relationships, cultivate key beliefs, and give the students a platform to be heard. Where the issues… Continue reading
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The Magic That Happens When Students Set Their Own Learning Goals
“We have to do this work with the students, and not for the students.” -Patty McGee I’m not proud of it, but I have seen all eight of the Fast and Furious movies. I have no defense except that I… Continue reading
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Wise Interventions: The Most Important Educational Concept You’ve Probably Never Heard Of (And How to Use It to Help Your Most Vulnerable Students)
Wise Intervention: a brief, timely action that significantly improves student achievement and/or closes performance gaps based on race and gender. In Helping Children Succeed (the link has an annotated pdf of the whole wonderful book!), Paul Tough tells the story of a group of… Continue reading