kitchen table math, the sequel: 6/8/14 - 6/15/14

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

2-bit lit crit and quality control

Terrence Moore's The Story-Killers was a revelation to me in any number of ways, one being the idea that English teachers should not spend their time teaching what Moore calls two-bit lit crit. (I'm sure Carol Jago has something intelligent to say on the subject -- will report once I finally get to her book.)

In the meantime, just a few minutes ago I came across the video below, which appears on the flipped learning network site's "Examples of Videos page." The lesson pretty much exemplifies two-bit lit crit, I think.

But the two-bit lit crit-ness is the least of it, which is why I'm posting.

Watch the first 30 seconds or so. See what you think.

The oddness of this flipped-classroom offering brings up an issue I've been wondering about: where is the quality control?

Here in New York, administrators are now required to make at least two visits to each teacher's classroom per school year (my district is doing four) -- but if teachers are recording their lessons, who's watching the videos?

Do the 'board members' and 'staff' of the flipped learning network watch lesson videos before posting them to their site?



Plot Structure at the IMA (7:08, Cockrum)