Year
2006 in review
107 posts across 10 months.
December 2006
13 posts- 12.13.06Core 1: What piece of sabotage do the “night men” do to the Papa on his way back from Vicksburg. How does Uncle Hammer get the money for the…Lesson Plans
- It’s On.The war over Journey is highly energized by the antagonistic stance that I have toward all bad music. The fact that there truly is nothing I can…
- Comforting SkinThe following is an essay written as an example for my Core 4 students. Their essays, as well as mine, is part of a multi-cultural novel unit and…
- 12.12.06Core 1: There is no comprehension question today. We will be discussing the conflicts in the story after tonight’s reading. You have three options…Lesson Plans
- 12.11.06Cores 1-4: Vote on the next Guest Blogging questions: What’s more important: social or academic experiences? Who was the teacher that had the…Lesson Plans
- Teacher 2.0A lot of edubloggers are focusing on what School 2.0 should look like. I really like the idea of looking ahead (and hopefully planning ahead) for…
- 12.07.06Core 1: Chapter 6 comprehension question: How did Uncle Hammer react when Cassie told him about the “incident” with Lillian Jean in Strawberry?…Lesson Plans
- 12.06.06Core 1: Write-On: Do you believe that each person has a place in life? Read Chapter 5 in class and discuss Cassie and Stacy’s “Place in life.”…Lesson Plans
- The Critical Mass of Ideas, Engagement, and Writing.Although this post isn’t in direct response to Hockey90’s Thinking About Thought, I believe it accents my post quite well, so I suggest you read…
- 12.05.06Cores 1-4: Read my Weekly Authentic and discuss Critical Mass. Write your Weekly Authentic, Nominate for an Authenticity Award, and Celebrity Comment.Lesson Plans
- 12.04.06Cores 1-4: Spelling Bee information and initial entrance test. Core 1: Chapter 4 Comprehension Question: What is the real reason that Mrs. Logan…Lesson Plans
- 12.01.06Cores 1-4: Look at and discuss first guest blogs. Congratulate the Authenticity Award Recipients for the past two weeks. Core 1: Write-On: When is…Lesson Plans
November 2006
15 posts- 11.30.06Core 1: Making the N-word History. What is Cresthill’s hierarchy of names? Read Chapter 3 and discuss the dignity of getting even. Core 2: Look at…Lesson Plans
- 11.29.06Core 1: The context of Racial Slurs: Why are they so powerful? Destructive? What does it mean today? What did it mean in the 1930’s? Who can say…Lesson Plans
- 11.28.06Cores 1-4: Vote on Guest Blogging Question: How have you changed since you were in middle school? What piece of advice do you wish you had when…Lesson Plans
- 11.27.06Core 1: Write-On: Why is the novel genre so powerful? Introduction to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Go over my expectations for reading and…Lesson Plans
- The Reality of BeautyThis video calls into question what we are willing to accept as reality. If we are willing to accept unreal beauty as something that we should…
- 11.21.06Cores 1-4: Discuss rules for guest blogging (something simple enough that even a parent could understand them). What is transliteracy? What does…Lesson Plans
- Guest BloggingThere is nothing so sinister as ignoring the wealth of voices around us: the ones that could make us laugh if we only knew the language, the ones…
- 11.20.06I am finally back for good. Thank you for still engaging in class even though I wasn’t here to enjoy all of the fruits of your labor. Don’t think…Lesson Plans
- 11.08.06Cores 1-4: Honor the new Authenticity Awards. Core 1: Discuss-On: What is it about Blogging is like Football that most resonates with you? Go over…Lesson Plans
- 11.07.06Cores 1 and 2: Randomly select username for celebrity commenting. Write-On: Comment on one post from the “Celebrity User.” You may use a comment…Lesson Plans
- Should students have grades?Disclaimer: The following is a work in progress. I am writing an essay with/for my Core 3 students about the following question: Should students…
- 11.06.06Core 1: Go over Choosing the Right word for Unit 8 vocabulary book. Write-On: Write a simile/metaphor that compares blogging to an event, action,…Lesson Plans
- Building Comment #2This is truly fantastic. I can’t imagine linking every single word. The one question that I think of after reading this, is why don’t we link more…
- 11.02.06Core 1: Go over Synonyms and Antonyms in Unit 8. Revisit belief statements as genre: Why is it important to outline your belief statements?…Lesson Plans
- 11.01.06I am back for a while, and I am so glad to be here. Let’s get back to it then. Cores 1-4: Take a look at The Authenticity Awards from the past two…Lesson Plans
October 2006
15 posts- 10.20.06Cores 1-4: As many of you know, my wife gave birth to our daughter yesterday. This bundle of joy and miracles is named Isabelle Roux Wilkoff. I…Lesson Plans
- Nouns and Now.We can never know what the future holds. For her, or for anyone. She is this thing, bright and new that I can’t quite see the end of. I want to…
- 10.18.06Core 1: Write-On: Why are beliefs powerful? Discuss and view Belief Statement Essays as genre: Tony Hawk Rick Moody Sarah Adams Harold Taw Explore…Lesson Plans
- Blogging Image Scavenger HuntI love looking for fresh images, ones that I haven’t used before in my writing. The trouble is that cliches are so much easier. I can talk about…
- 10.17.06Cores 1-4: I have been looking a lot at our blogging community. I have read and assessed posts. I have worked hard at making sure that everyone is…Lesson Plans
- I want her to come…When I was in high school, I was in Into The Woods. I sang and danced as the Wolf, lecherously hungry for little red riding hood. The whole play…
- 10.16.06Cores 1-4: Look at the new Authenticity Awards. Talk about AR Awards for First Quarter. Go to the computer lab and ensure that all students have…Lesson Plans
- 10.11.06Core 1: Play vocabulary basketball to review for unit 7 quiz. Take unit 7 quiz. Do partnered good parts to fulfill quarter 1 requirement. Core 2:…Lesson Plans
- 10.10.06Cores 1-4: Go over the Authentic Assessment for The Weekly Authentics. Work on Weekly Authentics, Nominating, and Commenting.Lesson Plans
- 10.09.06Cores 1-4: Talk about the Authenticity Awards for last week. Look at Authentic Assessment for blogs tomorrow. Core 1: Write a paragraph review of…Lesson Plans
- 10.05-06.06I was at a g/t curriculum conference for these two days. The plans that I left for the substitute are here and here.Lesson Plans
- Too tired to think.My last weekly authentic was ambitious and hopeful. It made a lot of observations in the hopes of coming to grand conclusion about where I am with…
- 10.04.06Cores 1-4: In partners, develop a rubric for assessing Weekly Authentics by asking yourself the following questions and answering them through…Lesson Plans
- 10.03.06Cores 3-4: Show off Talkr podcasts. Show off the How-To of Talkr podcasts. Go to the computer lab and nominate, post, build, or podcast.Lesson Plans
- 10.02.06Cores 1-2: Show off Talkr podcasts. Show off the How-To of Talkr podcasts. Go to the computer lab and nominate, post, build, or podcast.Lesson Plans
September 2006
31 posts- 09.29.06Core 1: Share-On: Share your Satires with at least 2-3 other people and ask them what they believe is being criticized. If they give you a…Lesson Plans
- 09.28.06Core 1: Discuss-On: Share your answers to the homework questions with at least two people and come to a consensus on the answers: What are these…Lesson Plans
- 09.27.06Cores 1-4: Honor the new Authenticity Award Recipients. Continue to refine The Discovery Blogging Rules. Is this post appropriate for our blogs?…Lesson Plans
- 09.26.06Cores 1-4: Explore My 4th Weekly Authentic: A Stream-Of-Consciousness Poem? Discuss the Building Comment Hall of Fame. Write your fourth Weekly…Lesson Plans
- Language Theory Notes for 09.25.06Is language encoded in DNA? How much is built in? Acquiring Language is different than learning. Are verbal errors really errors? (We are trying…
- Isaac and IshmaelDiscussion Questions for this episode of The West Wing: What did Josh mean when he said that “they” want to kill all of us the same amount? Why…Lesson Plans
- But at least…Disclaimer: The following Weekly Authentic is senseless. It has purpose only to me, and I’m still trying to figure out what that is. I share it…
- 09.25.06Core 1: Discuss-On: What do we learn about your brain (way of thinking) by reading your Stream-Of-Consciousness Read your Stream-Of-Consciousness…Lesson Plans
- 09.21.06Cores 1-4: My musical Weekly Authentic. Core 1: Write-On: Do a mind wandering exercise. Start with one image (A squirrel enjoying a particularly…Lesson Plans
- 09.20.06Cores 1-4: Go over the Language Arts instructions for your SLC. Show off the new Authenticity Awards. Explore some good Building Comments:…Lesson Plans
- 09.19.06Cores 1-4: Re-Introduce the concept of a Building Comment and show example. Take a look at a controversial post. Is it inappropriate or not? Afix…Lesson Plans
- Psycodude’s ApologyDear Mr. Wilkoff and Core 2, I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you last year on blogger and nation states, and I’m sorry for what I’ve done…Lesson Plans
- Language Theory Notes for 09.18.06Interesting Animal Grammar Article Animals do not have the capacity for generative grammar. They are committed to the behavioral form of learning…
- Building Comment #1When I read this piece for the fourth and fifth time, I really got it. SoccerLover did a great job picking something that I could really connect…
- Another Take on Blogging RulesLike Jeanne Simpson, Karl Fisch, Anne Davis, and Darren Kuropatwa before me, I decided it was important to flesh out blogging rules for my…
- 09.18.06Cores 1-4: Final Review of Blogging Rules. Psycodude’s Apology Letter. September 11th Memorial. Core 1: Check “Synonyms and Antonyms” for Unit 7…Lesson Plans
- 09.15.06Cores 1-4: Discuss Blog Spamming and Comment Blocking. Core 1: Discuss-On: How can one word cause a story? (For example: Iraq, Trouble, Puke) In…Lesson Plans
- 09.14.06Cores 1+3: Discuss-on: How can words save your life? Re-introduce vocabulary books for full life-saving effect. Play Vocabulary Basketball with…Lesson Plans
- The Complete Ning Interview.I posted a little while ago about an interview that I did with a Ning.com creator. My post focused on my technology Wish-List for the classroom,…
- 09.12.06I was sick today. Here are the lesson plans that I left for my substitute. You can also find the link to my example for a “Buliding Comment” here.Lesson Plans
- Language Theory Notes for 09.11.06Homework: Bring some piece of my own reading that deals with language and the brain. Book Recommendations: The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn…
- 09.11.06ELT: Write-Ons: Why do you think that people act differently online then they do in real life? How can we create a safe environment for everyone…Lesson Plans
- 09.08.06Cores 1-4: Introduce the process of commenting. (Model using Commenting Like a King or Queen.) Introduce Bloglines (optional account to set up…Lesson Plans
- 09.07.06ELT: Write-Ons: Why do you think that people act differently online then they do in real life? How can we create a safe environment for everyone…Lesson Plans
- 09.06.06ELT: Write-Ons: Why do you think that people act differently online then they do in real life? How can we create a safe environment for everyone…Lesson Plans
- 09.05.06ELT: Write-Ons: Why do you think that people act differently online then they do in real life? How can we create a safe environment for everyone…Lesson Plans
- What a man is…A former male 8th grade student of mine has been e-mailing me consistently ever since he figured out that I really love to read my students…
- The Ning InterviewEarly last week I was asked by Yoz Grahame (a lead developer of Ning.com) to answer a few questions about how I was using web 2.0 tools (and…
- 09.01.06Cores 1-3: Introduce the blog safety resources that we will be using to create our own Discovery Blogging Rules. Go over a few of the minor points…Lesson Plans
August 2006
23 posts- 08.31.06Cores 1-4: Introduce the ELT reading strategies assessments (not shown here because we use them from year to year) and talk about the importance…Lesson Plans
- 08.30.06Core 1-2: Share-On: Share your Authentic prompts with 2-3 others and select the best one or two to be included in the online resource for student…Lesson Plans
- Writing as Inquiry (A G/T Pro. Dev. Opportunity)My questions: How can we use our language so that our students become more metacognitive and reflective? Others’ questions: Is peer editing…
- 08.29.06Cores 1-4: I was at a G/T Langauge Arts meeting for most of the day, so here are my sub plans. Core 3: Discuss any great reading that happened in…Lesson Plans
- MetawritingToday, in class, I asked my students to think of the best and worst prompts that they could be asked to write about (most authentic and least…
- Language Theory Class #2 08.28.06Linguistics is a sub-set of Cognitive Science. Linguistics is only a study of natural langauges (not like esperanto) If Language is a mirror to…
- 08.28.06Cores 1-4: Last week we spent quite a bit of time talking about our reading program. We have now sufficiently set up AR+. This week we are going…Lesson Plans
- 08.25.06Today’s lessons are a continuation of yesterday’s. Cores 1-4: I will be analyzing CSAP data in the main office today. I have left my substitute…Lesson Plans
- 08.24.06Cores 1-4: Introduce the concept of Authentic vs. Inauthentic writing prompts. Talk about ways of changing inauthentic writing prompts into…Lesson Plans
- 008/23/06Much of today’s lessons are a continuation of yesterday. Core 1: Go over the process of actually submitting a book review. Discuss-On: How do you…Lesson Plans
- 08/22/06Today’s lessons are extentions of yesterday. Core 1-2: Discuss-On: What is the biggest book/reading virus (meme) you have ever started? Collect…Lesson Plans
- Not Tagged – The Book MemeI was not tagged to contribute to the book meme, but that is okay because I mostly thought that memes were a little bit hokey. That is until I…
- Language Theory 08/21/06I am now taking a graduate course called Language Theory at the University of Colorado at Denver for my graduate program, “The Teaching of…
- 08/21/06Cores 1-2: Check syllabus signatures. Use the one book meme to start a dialog about books, createing a community of readers. My example. Review…Lesson Plans
- Consider me surprised.I have never been so convinced that our political leanings dictate our pedagogical leanings as when I read the comments from “The 95 Theses of…
- 08/18/06These lessons are a continuation of yesterday. Core 1-3: Write-On: Construct a metaphor for your reading life. For example. Go over Syllabus for…Lesson Plans
- 08/17/06Much of today’s lessons are a continuation of the ideas from yesterday. Cores 1+2: Discuss-On: Discuss with at least two people your list of…Lesson Plans
- 08/16/06All of this is a continuation of yesterday. Core 1: Think/Discuss-On: How will writing these goals down and sending yourself an e-mail influence…Lesson Plans
- 08/15/06Cores 1-2 (8th graders): Reorient students to the new setup. Talk about the unique opportunity that Looping provides. Introduce FutureMe: First…Lesson Plans
- The 95 Theses of Progressive TeachingI have had the busiest and most productive summer of my life. I have created a lesson planning wiki, a technology integration wiki, the beginnings…
- 08/14/06Ideas for the first day: Present how people see me vs. how I want to be seen. (talking about a fresh start). Don’t talk at all. Play a song that…Lesson Plans
- SafetyIn order to build community support for technology use in the classroom, we must make the community aware of the technology, but we must also…
- The first day of Pre-API will be attending a Pre-AP vertical teaming conference this entire week. I was excited about discussing rigorous classrooms and genuine vertical…
July 2006
4 posts- PurposeI have decided that starting a new lesson plan book on paper is not a very smart idea. In fact, I have been so excited by the possibility of…Lesson Plans
- The Perfect Online Professional Development CommunityI have really been thinking a lot about how to create an online community for all of the teachers in my school district who are as passionate…
- Authentic Writing (concise new ideas)I have spent a great deal of time over the last year talking about Authentic Writing in the classroom. I have written a few papers on this…
- I’m not sure if this is a good idea.I was reading some of the articles on Karl Fisch’s del.icio.us account. I found this one and I was caught by some strange version of inspiration.…
June 2006
3 posts- Change in the L.A. Department.I’m trying to create an atmosphere of change in my Language Arts department. Now, I knew that there would be resistance from a few teachers, but I…
- I’m back, sort of.The wiki has been keeping me pretty busy. Version 1.0 of idiosyncratically useful websites will be ready in a couple of weeks. I plan on actually…
- My new WikiI now have a Wiki. I will use it to help annotate all of the great resources I have found for both teaching and existing in the 21st century. I am…
May 2006
1 post- The amount of research…I have been doing a rediculous amount of research while my wife has been at her mother’s. I have been looking into a lot of areas of technology in…
March 2006
1 post- I turn 23 tomorrow.It sounds so young, even to me. Perhaps it is the CSAP in me that has got me thinking about my goals, but I have some enormous expectations for…
February 2006
1 post- Sitting In ClassWhen we talk about definition we are implying its opposite. I find that to be a comforting idea. We are never so far away from our antithesis that…