tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post974122965951388732..comments2024-03-08T00:21:56.482-08:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: DrearCatherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-90114052907271917462013-06-22T15:23:27.968-07:002013-06-22T15:23:27.968-07:00Mark,
Sorry! Charter Management Organizations (CM...Mark,<br /><br />Sorry! Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) are non-profits that operate more than one charter school and help others launch new ones. Examples:<br /><br />Kipp<br />enVision<br />Basis<br />Green Dot<br />Great Hearts<br /><br />http://www.charterschoolcenter.org/priority-area/charter-management-organizationsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239123267984420065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-56133349462374375902013-06-22T10:45:37.437-07:002013-06-22T10:45:37.437-07:00Cassandra,
CMO?
None of these seem to fit: http:...Cassandra,<br /><br />CMO?<br /><br />None of these seem to fit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMO<br /><br />-Mark RouloAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-61475977238695065552013-06-22T09:22:21.269-07:002013-06-22T09:22:21.269-07:00Barry Garelick said...
From the San Jose Mercury a...Barry Garelick said...<br />From the San Jose Mercury about how three schools are "reimagining" their school...<br /><br />And that is why the CMO I am working with in San Jose is flourishing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239123267984420065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-73403711425434765382013-06-22T09:21:15.084-07:002013-06-22T09:21:15.084-07:00BTW-
I read Romeo & Juliet in 7th grade. Indep...BTW-<br />I read Romeo & Juliet in 7th grade. Independently. Then answered questions. I do not recall writing a paper. It was in an "Independent Studies" 7th grade English class, which required recommendation from the 6th grade teacher.<br /><br />I was not allowed to continue in the class in 8th grade and was so mortified to be in with the "regular" kids that I made sure I ended up in Honors English in 9th grade. <br /><br />The 1980's in MN. Such a happy time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239123267984420065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-22855066422091440362013-06-22T09:07:15.141-07:002013-06-22T09:07:15.141-07:00My son's final paper for 11th grade American L...My son's final paper for 11th grade American Lit was to be on "What makes American Literature "American"? Oh and they had to use the 40+ texts they read in class to support their argument including:<br /><br />The Scarlet Letter<br />The Red Badge of Courage<br />The Great Gatsby<br />The Grapes of Wrath<br /><br />And selections from:<br />Willa Cather, Poe, Robert Frost and basically EVERYTHING from this book: <br />The American Standard: A Collection of Classic American Literature <br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/American-Standard-Collection-Classic-Literature/dp/0980087805/<br /><br />He got a "B" on the paper. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239123267984420065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-86929592191839376622013-06-20T09:31:52.867-07:002013-06-20T09:31:52.867-07:00Article is here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/san-j...Article is here:<br /><br />http://www.mercurynews.com/san-jose-neighborhoods/ci_23497389/three-san-jose-unified-schools-will-spend-nextBarry Garelickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01281266848110087415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-77180898344701065082013-06-20T09:31:12.716-07:002013-06-20T09:31:12.716-07:00From the San Jose Mercury about how three schools ...From the San Jose Mercury about how three schools are "reimagining" their school:<br /><br /><i>"We're planning to use content so our students will be skilled at the college level," says Kaia Hamilton, principal at Willow Glen. "Instead of asking students about the characters, plot and overview of a novel, we'll be questioning them about the characters' motivations, why they are making such decisions. We're going to ask our students to think in a different way. </i>Barry Garelickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01281266848110087415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-71515369223504750632013-06-18T08:23:34.926-07:002013-06-18T08:23:34.926-07:00We "read" Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade....We "read" Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade. Actually, we watched the movie because most of the kids in the class couldn't read well enough to slog through the play. Then we discussed teen love and romance. No papers. In senior AP English, though, we had to write papers on the psychological motivations of every character. I will never forget having to listen to the teacher yammer about some Hesse character having a Christ complex. Thankfully, that was the last literature class I ever had to take. I actually learned how to write in psychology, art history, and graduate engineering courses.froggiemamanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-77021637634958746632013-06-17T10:55:11.718-07:002013-06-17T10:55:11.718-07:00I read Romeo and Juliet in my non honors 9th grade...I read Romeo and Juliet in my non honors 9th grade English class in the 1970s.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-45357349362560102562013-06-12T15:07:55.471-07:002013-06-12T15:07:55.471-07:00me: [had to] write essays almost identical to that...me: [had to] write essays almost identical to that for all of 12th grade AP English<br /><br />C: Your AP English classes asked you to psychologize fictional characters as if they were real historical people? Really?<br /><br />I had to write about whether Hamlet was merely depressed or actually crazy, using evidence from the text to support my topic sentence.<br /><br />I had to write whether Ophelia or Hamlet's mother was a better example of the feminine ideal to Shakespeare, according to the text.<br /><br />I had to write who best exemplified a hero in Henry IV, using text to support my argument.<br /><br />To tell you the truth, I can't really see the difference between those questions--were some psychologizing the fictional and others not?<br /><br />The AP test did come as a surprise. It asked about demonstrating the use of metamorphosis as a literary technique in some work of fiction. That was profoundly different enough from the drivel we'd been writing that most of us struggled. I wrote about Kafka's Metamorphosis, which I had not read more than 60 pages of. Got a 5 anyway. Then I went to a tech school and learned nothing more about literature except by just reading it occasionally.<br /><br />Never occurred to me that these opinion based questions weren't what literature people did with their time. It seemed very much like the AP history test, where I was expected to use document to prove an opinion I had about history.allisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11240524782309335161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-92103504459960734862013-06-12T05:42:29.439-07:002013-06-12T05:42:29.439-07:00I remember doing R & J in eighth grade (and Mi...I remember doing R & J in eighth grade (and Midsummer Night's Dream in seventh). I don't recall any crazy touchy-feely assignments - I don't even have a clue what we talked about. I took a semester of Shakespeare in tenth grade, but that wasn't particularly well-taught either. The real education I got about Shakespeare came from performing it in summer theater. SATVerbalTutor.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14362826669168491773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-46853030106744925152013-06-12T03:47:15.247-07:002013-06-12T03:47:15.247-07:00I'm pretty sure it was 9th grade that we read ...I'm pretty sure it was 9th grade that we read "Romeo and Juliet" in my honors English class. I think we also did "Twelfth Night" that year.<br /><br />10th grade was definitely "Julius Caesar" because my good friend and I had a running bet to see what idiotic things we could get our teacher to say. My friend got the teacher to say that the Mark Antony in "Julius Caesar" was not the same Mark Antony in "Antony and Cleopatra" but his cousin, LOL!<br /><br />11th grade we did "Merchant of Venice" and "Othello". 12th grade we did "Hamlet" and "MacBeth". Crimson Wifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03254830856234479999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-47873354455540116832013-06-11T20:56:16.085-07:002013-06-11T20:56:16.085-07:00One more person who read Romeo and Juliet in 9th g...One more person who read Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade, in Honors English. In fact, all the English classes of all levels read it at the same time, and I remember we watched a cut version of Zefferelli's film after reading it (in part I remember this because our teacher was appalled we saw the cut version so we then watched the whole thing in her class).<br /><br />We did read it out loud in class, which helped. And that year we'd already read Oedipus Rex, so it didn't feel too shocking. It was easily my favorite class that year, so I really don't think ninth grade was too early. I voluntarily took a course on Greek plays the next summer, but I am a weirdo!ChemProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01720659176087492651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-36875026984556658262013-06-11T18:43:34.669-07:002013-06-11T18:43:34.669-07:00If this is Common Core, public school is about to ...<i>If this is Common Core, public school is about to turn into 13 years of SAT reading.</i><br /><br />Catherine,<br /><br />The SAT tests exactly the *opposite* of that kind of assignment. The CB may have its problems, but no exam would ever ask that subjective a question. Everything is much more nuts and bolts comprehension, tone, imagery, rhetoric strategy, etc., even on the AP and Lit SAT IIs. It's the English teachers who are pretending that literary characters are real people and asking kids to psychoanalyze them. If anything, one of the goals of implementing CC is to counteract that kind of bulls**t by emphasizing "informational texts." That's not to say CC won't end up a godawful disaster in practice, just that some of its aims strike me as reasonable given that this type of assignment is, from what I gather, fairly common in AP classes. <br /><br />By the way, you might be interested in my latest blog post: http://thecriticalreader.com/blog/item/359-memorization-is-a-component-of-critical-thinking-not-its-opposite.html<br /><br />Some of the prose is a little clunky, so I apologize in advance. It started out as pretty much what the title says but sort of devolved into a rant about fake rigor. It is *excruciating* to watch a high school student make herself insane trying to complete a borderline incomprehensible assignment asking her to make moral judgments about fictional characters as if they were actual people. Excruciating. That sort of thing should be banned. <br /><br />-EricaSATVerbalTutor.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14362826669168491773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-82254760715483932742013-06-11T14:24:12.890-07:002013-06-11T14:24:12.890-07:00Catherine--I also read Romeo and Juliet in 9th gra...Catherine--I also read Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade honors English. The teacher walked us through the play and explained the jokes and the word play, then we watched a performance of the play.<br /><br />I didn't feel unprepared--we read classic literature (not contemporary young adult fiction) at my junior high.<br /><br />I recall my English teachers being interested in symbolism, themes, imagery, and comparing and contrasting--no psych analysis, no how do we feel about it type writing.Karen Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13075997477474697121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-32641666344698707042013-06-11T11:22:51.746-07:002013-06-11T11:22:51.746-07:00But it looks like our realistic choices don't ...<i>But it looks like our realistic choices don't include good assignments.</i><br /><br />You think?<br /><br />I can't help it. I absolutely <i>gag</i> on the thought of having students explain who's responsible for the deaths of two fictional characters who, any time you pick up the play to re-read, aren't dead.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-77012659169822958182013-06-11T11:18:43.284-07:002013-06-11T11:18:43.284-07:00"You're saying this is a good thing?
Or ...<i>"You're saying this is a good thing?<br /><br />Or it's a bad thing, but the Romeo and Juliet assignment isn't any worse."</i><br /><br />It was a bad thing and the R&J thing doesn't seem to be any worse.<br /><br />I'd *LIKE* things to get better.<br /><br />I just don't expect them to.<br /><br />And I don't like Common Core because I loathe the idea of a national curriculum.<br /><br />But I can't get worked up over bad curriculum A replacing bad curriculum B if the two seem roughly as bad.<br /><br /><i>"It shouldn't be given to students, and the fact that teachers have always given bad assignments is not a reason to support giving it to students today."</i><br /><br />Right. But it looks like our realistic choices don't include good assignments.<br /><br />-Mark RouloAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-9039699343238552192013-06-11T11:18:10.090-07:002013-06-11T11:18:10.090-07:00Oh that's Helen Vendler!
Thanks for the link!...Oh that's Helen Vendler!<br /><br />Thanks for the link!Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-86284228087527895922013-06-11T11:16:58.752-07:002013-06-11T11:16:58.752-07:00I just looked through every assessment item for &q...I just looked through every assessment item for "English Language Arts" on the Smarter Balanced site, and there's nothing on literature or poetry or drama.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-89118965889356053422013-06-11T11:16:22.718-07:002013-06-11T11:16:22.718-07:00I'm wondering about the issue of reading Romeo...I'm wondering about the issue of reading Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade....<br /><br />I just don't know.<br /><br />If the teacher read it with the class, line by line, and had them listen to it performed ..... <br /><br />I'm suspicious by reflex, so I may be wrong that 9th grade is too early. (I'm suspicious by reflex because of all the fake rigor I see....fake rigor meaning: give students something to read or write that's over their heads.)Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-59409174901061130932013-06-11T11:13:32.341-07:002013-06-11T11:13:32.341-07:00That said, the two test items in the Hacker op-ed ...That said, the two test items in the Hacker op-ed were dreadful.<br /><br />Those were written by PARCC, I assume.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-16605807463293903722013-06-11T11:13:03.205-07:002013-06-11T11:13:03.205-07:00Oh, thanks for that link!
I'm looking now.
(...Oh, thanks for that link!<br /><br />I'm looking now.<br /><br />(You're right - we have PARCC)<br /><br />I don't think PARCC wrote the NYC Tasks and Units. I think those were written by "300 teachers and administrators".... (300 is the figure the parent here gave me.)Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-17143845103684986962013-06-11T11:11:37.675-07:002013-06-11T11:11:37.675-07:00he has had to write about psychological motivation...<i>he has had to write about psychological motivations of fictional characters every.darn.essay. </i><br /><br />This gets back to the issue of public schools never, ever, ever consulting disciplinary specialists.<br /><br />I've been pressing the Common Core parent in my town (he works for NYC DOE, I think) to tell us whether Common Core consulted any disciplinary specialists. So far I can't get an answer. He just tells me that "professors" are involved.<br /><br />I want to know WHICH professors.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-55989601993208072872013-06-11T11:09:52.288-07:002013-06-11T11:09:52.288-07:00I have an absolutely fabulous English paper by a f...I have an absolutely fabulous English paper by a freshman that I would LOVE to post --- not sure whether I should. I have permission from him to use it in classes, but posting it is another matter (and I worry about providing it to other students searching the internet for papers...)<br /><br />That paper was written by a college freshman in the 2nd-level remedial course in a non-selective college, and it is terrific.<br /><br />There is no reason on Earth why high school students can't be taught to write about setting, tone, symbolism, imagery, etc.<br /><br />NO REASON AT ALL.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-35354822180308324662013-06-11T11:07:29.707-07:002013-06-11T11:07:29.707-07:00And I clearly remember how the class concluded tha...<i>And I clearly remember how the class concluded that Homer in "A Rose for Emily" was gay (there is no evidence for this as nearly as I can tell ... and no sex in the book at all).</i><br /><br />OK, now I don't understand your argument.<br /><br />You're saying this is a good thing?<br /><br />Or it's a bad thing, but the Romeo and Juliet assignment isn't any worse.<br /><br />And 'not worse' is an acceptable standard to impose on the entire country via Common Core....<br /><br />(Gee. Can you tell I'm not very sympathetic to this line of thought?!)<br /><br />That assignment is bad. It is beyond bad<br /><br />It shouldn't be given to students, and the fact that teachers have always given bad assignments is not a reason to support giving it to students today.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.com