tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20002620358317547062011-10-07T19:37:52.234-05:00"Gods might note the fall of a sparrow, but they don't make <br />any effort to catch them." - Terry Pratchett. <br /><br/><i>The second cyber-life of Redkudu</i>Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-49958372535624023442008-01-20T06:57:00.000-06:002008-01-20T07:00:26.954-06:00

I don't know if I still have any readers at this blog, but I want to let you know I'm moving - again. I've finally gotten my own site and blog up to speed, which was what I was working toward (and one of the reasons blogging was light here).Hopefully I will have more to say over there. So pop by and say hello. I'm at Catching Sparrows.

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-28387028820242965372008-01-12T08:55:00.000-06:002008-01-12T09:07:54.481-06:00

I know it's not polite to refer to it as "Dumbing up, dumbing down." I'm sure I should call the practice "modification" or, since that became a Bad Word in our school last year, "accommodation." Or even "differentiated learning strategy" which is being tossed around our school a lot this year, yet no one seems to actually know what real differentiated learning strategies look like.But I'm

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-88797144607187957902008-01-11T22:26:00.000-06:002008-01-11T23:02:40.295-06:00

I've always thought the quickest way to undermine student trust is to enforce rules which students must follow...but teachers don't have to.Case In Point: I recently went to an ARD proceeding in which the parent brought her attorney (this after a long history), and in which she demanded neuro-psych testing for her child. Our school's diagnostician was called in to explain why our school does not

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-88822960011185984742008-01-11T17:21:00.001-06:002008-01-11T17:22:17.381-06:00

I love this quote I ran across today. It describes teaching quite a bit as well."People ask me how far I've come, and I tell them twelve feet: from the audience to the stage."-David Lee Roth

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-57157146085610478982008-01-10T18:46:00.000-06:002008-01-10T19:44:19.944-06:00

I was teasing one of my classes for being slow today - not picking up their handouts before the tardy bell rang, not getting their journals out in time (they were tired, I have a good relationship with the class). I was getting them going (and laughing) by marching around saying things like "GET that homework out! GET those journals out! NO more Ms. Nice Kudu! You don't have your handouts yet

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-41809956546322968912008-01-09T20:37:00.000-06:002008-01-09T20:42:48.524-06:00

The arrival of a note releasing a kid from class is always worth a moment of silence. Reverence and longing, you know.The note came. It was for a student who was not in my class. (Probably got the room number wrong.)One of my students, very dry humor, name of Christopher: Ms. Kudu, who's the note for?Me: Don't worry about it. It's not for you.Chris: It might be, and you're hiding it from me

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-53939501036497903502008-01-08T18:58:00.001-06:002008-01-08T19:33:54.920-06:00

Yesterday was a professional development day. Let me share with you how it went.School upon arrival: blisteringly hot. The heaters were on over the holidays. In Texas, this is completely unnecessary. The temps have been in the 70s, except for 2 or 3 days right in the midst of the holidays when no one would have been at the school. In an attempt to fix this the system was turned off,

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-21025212654731520972008-01-03T19:29:00.000-06:002008-01-03T19:34:48.990-06:00

The top 10 signs it’s nearly time to return to school after the holidays.10. You realize you’re going to have to have some kind of anticipation set for the first day, and a journal about New Year’s resolutions seems to fit the bill. Of course, you try to come up with an angle to make it unique. There are no unique angles to a journal about New Year’s resolutions. Some television show/Youtube/

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-53301526538702479402008-01-01T10:18:00.000-06:002008-01-01T10:24:36.590-06:00

Via Joanne Jacobs: Student suspended for tearing up a Bible in a speech about Ralph Waldo Emerson.Here’s a great way to snow people on an issue: just add Bible. I’ve got images of Richard Gere in a courtroom made to look like a 3-ring circus singing “Give ‘em the ol’ razzle dazzle.”Couple of things are bound to happen when you include the destruction of a Bible in front of an audience. One

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-53795143827837688692007-12-31T21:06:00.000-06:002007-12-31T21:25:30.464-06:00

Here's a quote I stumbled on a while back, in the blog of a young Swedish graphic designer:"Everything's changing, it is unseemly to stand still."- Radoslaw SiechowiczI don't discredit the value of stillness - it is a time to gather thoughts and develop new ideas. But standing still when things are changing...that I think we must not do, but rather be certain we (as teachers) have voices in the

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-11574219483753032202007-12-28T19:13:00.000-06:002007-12-28T20:21:07.578-06:00

It's been my habit for many years, over the various blogs I've had, to post this essay around the close of the year and to follow it up with a sort of manifesto on the morning of the new year. This has been the most difficult year of my teaching career, the one they talk about that breaks a teacher and sends them off to other employment, which is why I've been so much absent from this blog. But

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-49705109804862125292007-12-20T14:42:00.000-06:002007-12-20T15:25:15.391-06:00

Student: [at 8:40 this morning] I failed my semester final, and the semester. Is there any extra credit work I can do to pass?Me: You do realize today is the last day of finals and the semester?Student: Yes.Me: I don't show you ever came for morning tutoring with me, is that correct?Student: Yes.Me: I don't show you ever signed up for side-by-side conferencing with me during class for any

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-87607524916926570032007-12-04T17:44:00.000-06:002007-12-04T17:55:47.580-06:00

I usually try to spend my second period conference in a social skills class with some of our Autistic/Asperger students. The privilege of being welcomed into this (mostly private) class by them helps me when they are in my classroom, and helps me gain new perspectives in general.Today, during "table time" in which we gather around the table and discuss concerns or objectives, one of the kids

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-54616800815953079802007-12-03T17:29:00.000-06:002007-12-03T17:34:42.577-06:00

I have a student who tries very hard, but often gets lost in his work easily. He's also very shy and won't ever ask for help, so I usually try to make sure I'm anticipating some of his needs.Today's activity kept me pretty busy going from group to group, and I noticed throughout that he kept trying to catch my eye. As I passed by each time, I tried to glance down at his work to see where he was

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-79562617838373312852007-12-02T15:46:00.000-06:002007-12-02T16:19:11.126-06:00

Cheating has become so high tech these days it's almost ridiculous to expect that I'm going to catch all of it. With phones getting smaller and teens' fingers getting faster, they can get five answers off the phone, have it off and returned to their pocket before I've even finished raising my eyebrow a la Mr. Spock and begun to cross the room.With six identical classes, it's often not easy to

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-64550392551828226752007-11-23T07:33:00.000-06:002007-11-23T07:43:04.166-06:00

I took my students to the library Tuesday to check out books for sustained silent reading in the classroom. Students dread SSR time, because they are usually required to keep page counts, write journals, choose certain types of books and genres and complete massive projects over their books. Nothing like making them hate something we're trying to get them to want to do in their spare time. So

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-59381268461214334272007-11-17T16:18:00.000-06:002007-11-17T16:19:40.905-06:00

Why you should not ask overworked English teachers to fill out a long survey about their writing training on the day grades are due, after they’ve lost 2 full weeks of teaching in 2 6 weeks’ periods.Because we’re punchy. Because we’re frazzled. Because we just finished grading 170 essays. Because we also had to sit through a professional development faculty meeting during our planning period

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-66513040681964259992007-11-15T18:47:00.000-06:002007-11-15T19:56:49.883-06:00

It's like Through The Looking Glass. It's like April Fool's in November. It's like being tripped up by some cosmic banana peel and hearing a faint celestial laugh-track in the background.Everything is different around the holidays.This morning I had an observer, a young woman just entering a teaching program who must complete 16 hours of observation. Mine was her 16th hour. I really didn't

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-48028270210249464482007-11-13T19:35:00.000-06:002007-11-13T19:36:14.890-06:00

"If I pass out, don't send me to the nurse.""Do you have...[counts on fingers]...seven bandaids I could borrow?"

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-15347097559737159722007-11-04T17:45:00.000-06:002007-11-04T18:57:17.761-06:00

Typed "What is a teacher?" into Google, and took the first five responses off the top.A person whose occupation is teaching; a personified abstraction (Books were his teachers.)To a mind of flint, the teacher must be iron, and strike sparks. To the empty pitcher, the teacher becomes a well...The teacher is to the students what the rain is to the field. -Zaira Alexandra Rodriguez Guijarro, 11, (

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-260219467530538142007-10-30T17:17:00.000-05:002007-10-30T17:18:55.266-05:00

Things Teachers Hate To Hear:When did you tell us this was due today?Can I keep this knife in your cabinet so I don't get in trouble?Does this look like a Staph infection to you?Things Teachers Hate To See In Emails From Admin:Please be aware there is a Staff [sic] infection going around the district.

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-10706435728642781252007-10-25T17:15:00.000-05:002007-10-25T22:13:23.489-05:00

I've been out sick for three days, and finally returned today. You know it's going to be bad when the inclusion teacher sends you an email that says, "There were some problems with third period. I'll be really glad when you're back."I'm convinced half my positive reputation as a teacher relies on how badly my students act when I'm gone. It's not unusual for kids to act up a little, but

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-51034612975877037422007-10-21T18:43:00.000-05:002007-10-21T19:29:44.973-05:00

Our department head was recently accused, in an email, of being a racist, and grading a student as such. She had to attend a meeting with the parents, student, and 3 APs last week. I spoke with her in the English "office" (or, closet) beforehand, and she was already in tears, mostly over the accusation of racism.The grade in question was for last year. The student's mother is a teacher at our

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-84881615878613931372007-10-10T17:52:00.000-05:002007-10-10T18:45:25.262-05:00

After an entire day of mind-boggling inanity, we received a form in our boxes asking us to give feedback about the professional development. The form has three parts, and looks like this:FEEL: How do I feel about what I've learned?THINK: What are the most important ideas? What's my evaluation of them?DO: How can I use this knowledge?The situation has become untenable for all involved. Over

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-34142535412673515642007-10-08T17:39:00.000-05:002007-10-08T18:50:22.202-05:00

Session 1: Engaged Learning Strategies for the Differentiated Classroom - presented by teachers.1. As we entered, we saw strips of paper lying on a table. Some people took them. Some people did not see them. I stole two of them for later.One said: The variable that the scientist deliberately changes to observe its effect.Another said: A set of statements or principals devised to explain a group

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-23561953367879496012007-10-07T13:15:00.000-05:002007-10-07T13:24:05.080-05:00

Last night I dreamed I was very earnestly arguing with my AP over why it would not be appropriate for us to assign students to perform with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir over the winter holiday. Argument 1: We couldn't require students to participate in religious events for a grade. Argument 2: We couldn't be sure all students would have the funds available to fly to Utah. Argument 3: We

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-69588293081854758872007-09-28T18:49:00.000-05:002007-09-28T20:05:18.139-05:00

The Direct Instruction debate continues at Marginal Revolution, via Joanne Jacobs.The comments are worth reading.I always find it interesting that people give such flimsy opposition as to pick on that single, widely-reported attribute - "scripted" teaching - and malign it through ridicule, or base the entire rejection of the program on that when few people have ever actually seen it in action. (

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-90288585503254447202007-09-25T17:31:00.000-05:002007-09-25T18:08:50.134-05:00

Mamacita raised a few eyebrows with this post a few weeks back, a rant about the poorly behaved students in schools. From The Trenches followed up with this mostly supportive post, which also examined some criticism from another blogger.I'm not really going to discuss the posts (you should go read them), except to use the original as a springboard for something I keep saying over and over, and

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-40038174014583890482007-09-22T17:36:00.000-05:002007-09-22T18:30:18.906-05:00

Friday's Student Quote Of The Day: "I can't believe we have to work so much in this class! We didn't have to do any of this work last year. We never had homework. We never talked about theme and tone. We didn't have to do any of this literary analysis stuff."Me: "But this year you're juniors. I have to prepare you for the TAKS and SATs, and for college or careers. Those things require you

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-43687405498155194542007-09-21T18:31:00.001-05:002007-09-21T20:09:32.914-05:00

Every now and then, a teacher lucks out with a class that is imbued with "the looove." They just looove everything, and their joy shows and is contagious among them, spreading into their behavior and participation in class. They don't say it out loud, but their actions have, for me, an unspoken commentary of happiness, something like "We looove being in class, and what's this? Whatever it is,

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-25174166703481132392007-09-21T17:51:00.000-05:002007-09-21T20:08:41.332-05:00

Our school has a tradition of asking teachers to award football players stars during the week before a game. We email their coach their name, and they receive an adhesive star to wear on their helmet during the game. While I don't mind this in theory, I do mind that it has created a culture of students who will ask for stars, or bargain for stars, rather than understand the stars are awards for

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-91760871715866275982007-09-17T20:23:00.001-05:002007-09-17T20:33:16.145-05:00

I do a little simple CSS website design on the side occasionally, for myself and some author folks I know from another life. (Gas money, free signed and personalized books, etc.)But I am pretty proud of my own teacher website, which is my own property (not the school's, not hosted at TeacherWeb or etc.), and which I reconfigure every year to be both useful, attractive, and user-friendly to my

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-24292684882451152852007-09-17T19:19:00.000-05:002007-09-17T19:38:01.512-05:00

Today was the last day before progress reports. We did a quick review of four types of irony, read Chief Canasatego's speech, and discussed the types of irony used. Then they had composition time to complete their rudimentary literary analysis of Chief Seattle's 1854 Oration. (Identify theme and cite textual support, identify tone and cite textual support, in two well-composed paragraphs.)

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-41906178610347750512007-09-17T18:53:00.000-05:002007-09-17T19:12:21.711-05:00

In the differentiated classroom, students of (sometimes drastically) different skill levels* are expected to learn identical material under the guise of several well-meaning premises, among them:1. Equality. That each student should have a chance to learn exactly what their peers are learning, without being socially sequestered from their peers.2. That education, up to now, has worked well

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-46927893751669739432007-09-16T18:23:00.000-05:002007-09-16T18:34:24.664-05:00

During an activity the other day a student suddenly blurted out loudly, "God! This is so stupid! Is this even in the TEKS?" (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.)After assuring him it was, and that the activity was also preparatory work for an upcoming literary analysis we will work on, he continued to grumble loudly. I went to him and said quietly, "Is this really about the assignment, or

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2000262035831754706.post-10431996393073018372007-09-16T17:56:00.000-05:002007-09-17T08:49:37.343-05:00

Excerpts from the sci-fi (cyberpunk?) novelFeed, by M. T. Anderson, about teenagers in a futuristic society where the "feed" (internet, advertising, etc) is pumped directly into the brain.People were really excited when they first came out with feeds. It was all da da da, this big educational thing, da da da, your child will have the advantage, encyclopedia at their fingertips, closer than their

Redkuduhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com4