“I can stop talking about teaching whenever I want to,” claims educator-writer Emmet Rosenfeld, who spends much of his time—you guessed it—thinking and talking about teaching. A former English teacher at the renowned Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., Rosenfeld transitioned to a position as English teacher and Dean of Students at the Congressional Schools of Virginia in Falls Church, Va. He wrote this wide-ranging opinion blog on teaching and learning in his classroom and beyond. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teaching & learning.
Education
Opinion
Taxing
Let it not be said that the NBPTS gods don’t have a sense of humor, albeit twisted. Retakes are due on April 15. I just put the finishing touches on my Reflective Summary, the final part of my do-over. I will soon send off the blue box for the second time. Here I mark the occasion by breaking my own promise not to write about this anymore.
Education
Opinion
Mr R Goes to Washington
I played hookey yesterday for 30 million dollars. (Technically, I was lobbying for federal funding for the National Writing Project on Capitol Hill.)
Education
Opinion
Feeding the Baby
Turns out there’s a name for all that weird stuff I make my students do like creating games about the Odyssey or reviewing their writers’ notebooks to make observations about their own learning. It’s called formative assessment.
Education
Opinion
The Death of Handwriting
You know that amazing feeling of sitting at a picnic table on a riverbank with a light spring breeze, a cup of coffee beside your open marble comp book, and letting it all flow out through your pen onto the riffling pages? Or even being transported to the same sort of zone but under fluorescent lights and acoustic tiles in a standard classroom?
Education
Opinion
National Bored
I confess I’m tapped out at this point with writing about the Boards. My recent Post article was cathartic and now I want to move on. For example, a good topic today would be the six-figure teacher.
Education
Opinion
Me and Herbert, Down by the Schoolyard
Readers of a certain age will remember a catchy Paul Simon tune with the chorus, “Well, I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin' / I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where… “. I’m not sure why Simon’s carefree narrator is so desperate to say goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona, or even exactly what he Julio are doing down by the schoolyard.
Education
Opinion
Thank You Notes
“Teaching for the Test” came out in the Washington Post Magazine a little over a week ago, and if I ever cursed my word-count slashing editor, I’m sorry for that evil wish and now I wish her well.
Education
Opinion
Blogs Rule
After two years of growing my own here on Teacher, I am finally using blogs in my own classroom. And I’m wondering what took me so long.
Education
Opinion
Play Odyssey
Remember the test of the bow near the end of The Odyssey? It was when Penelope, the wandering hero’s long-suffering wife, finally agreed to let one of the suitors marry her if he could string her hubby’s bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads lined up in a row.
Education
Opinion
Fuel for the Fire
I’m back from my trip to the netherworld (article has gone to bed) and ready to pick up where I left off, which was with a promise to discuss the media consumption habits of ninth graders who are reading Fahrenheit 451. I told you I wanted to look at the book not just as a parable about censorship but also, as Bradbury himself suggests, as a cautionary tale against couch potatoism.
Education
Opinion
Mea Culpa
Is there a circle of hell reserved for writers? Cause right now, I’m deep in it. I type this with flames licking my fingers to apologize for the fact that I haven’t posted in a while. Plus I’m midway in my life’s journey and feeling it (sorry, some of my tenth graders are reading the Inferno.)
Education
Opinion
451 24-7
I’m just starting Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 with 9th graders. Eventually, we’re going to do a simulation. The paperwork for an actual book burning was a hassle, so instead we’ll simulate a book challenge hearing, with kids playing various parts including “concerned parent,” school librarian, administrator, etc. (the kids without a set role will be members of the school board, charged with listening to the evidence and writing a decision). Don’t tell the students, but I think the book we’ll put on trial is Harry Potter.
Education
Opinion
Winging a Wiki
Diane left a comment last post asking for more information about the wikis my 9th graders are using to develop their science papers. (Check out “Workshop of the Gods” and a few previous posts for the nature of the assignment if you’re new here.)
Education
Opinion
Workshop of the Gods
Oops, I did it again. This time, instead of Huns learning to meditate, my class room was chockablock with toga-clad gods workshopping a science paper.