Clik here to view.
Sylvia Ashton-Warner
I have roots in New Zealand. Not physical roots—none of my ancestors came from New Zealand, or, as far as I know, ever visited there. But the roots of my ideas about teaching came from Sylvia...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Matching Exercises: Off the Page
If you’re a kid who can’t sit still, you get into a lot of trouble in elementary school. Kids like that often drop out, or fail to graduate with the classes and grades required for further training. To...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Grammar Hatchet
Actually me, in front, 70s demonstration, with Nancy RosenbergSorry, can’t remember where this came from. I had a taste, once, of someone using grammar to do a hatchet job on something that was full of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Getting to Grammar
In her comment on The Grammar Hatchet Joyce used the phrase, “a constant reminder to consider people before grammar.” The interesting thing is that when students (or me or you or anybody else) write...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Students Celebrate Their Supporters
Students’ writing improves when they write for an audience. When you find them an audience that is close to home and a situation that is meaningful, there are many reasons for them to get the writing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Your Students Should Blog–
Giving students a blog provides an instant audience, and a shift in identity for the blogger. A blogger looks at life with a writer’s eye and awareness of the audience; a blog gives its author a chance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Reading from Life
“What reading materials are appropriate for adult literacy students?” Kat posted this question on my blog the other day, and went on to say, “I’m teaching my first teenage reading student now, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Healthy Disrespect
Adult literacy and GED students have enormous respect for text–too much respect, I think. They may fear text, or be confused by it. They may loathe the printed word, and/or ignore it. They may have a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Frustrated
When a feeling is not a feeling… I don’t trust words that end in “-ed” when they are used to describe emotions. Take “loved” for example, as in “I feel loved.” Well, no, “loved” is not a feeling. That...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Learning from Our Mistakes
Students learn from their mistakes, they say. I agree. They learn something. But often what they are learning is not what the teacher thinks she is teaching. M. Moriarty said it well in a comment on an...
View Article
