English Matters ~ A teacher's perspective: February 2010

Friday, February 19, 2010

New Crime Writing Book is in final pre-publication phase!!!!

'Murder Most Foul'

Pleased with the final product which should be out within the fortnight. Murder and detection of course are key focus areas in line with the elective shift and the current prescribed texts. These are all covered along with general analytical and creative response skills. Suitable related texts are included as well.

The extensive research that went into writing the book served to reinforce the many, many reasons why crime writing, in all its forms and mediums, remains so universally popular.

The Extension 1 course is taxing whatever elective is studied but I find that students find this one particularly enjoyable to study.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Drowning in a sea of paper?

Didn't they promise us a paperless environment?

Wasn't technology supposed to save the planet?

At present, I feel swamped and I am sure many other teachers feel the same. Assessment tasks, reports criteria, subject specific terminology, and, and and.

Now that my rant is done, I can adopt Scarlett O'Hara's ploy: "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

Am enjoying 'Goodnight Mr. Tom' which is going down really well with a 'Changing Worlds' unit for Year 8.

Back to the paper shredder for now.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Stannerscircle ning update

Well, a few new members have joined which is good to see. Download stats show that others who have stumbled across the site have found some useful material as well. I will continue adding resources to see if it gains momentum as we settle into the back to school routine.

Numbers have also climbed a little for the March 20th, 'Science Fiction' TTA workshop. Some useful video clips have been posted on the ning site for clarifying genre context. I will try to cover several modules and electives and welcome input from other HSC teachers relating to topics they might be teaching.

http://stannerscircle.ning.com/
I have set up a wikispace for my 2010 classes and students are starting to familiarize themselves with it. There is a huge range of ability with regards to computer literacy and so will load some simple video tutorials for how to use powerpoints, podcasts and blogs to help those with only basic knowledge. I am amazed and inspired by the technological expertise and teaching strategies exhibited on so many educational wikispaces and blogs, here and overseas.
Found an excellent 'War' site with a vast range of quality quotes useful for triggering class discussion. http://www.hickorytech.net/~leighp/warisstupid/.
Matched with evocative images and an inviting format, students are encouraged to continue reading. A good homework task would be to get them to choose 10 quotes that most appeal to them and have them deconstruct why and how and then write a reflection statement outlining a more informed view of war.
Bye for now, back to school prep.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

'Goodnight Mr. Tom' as a 'Changing Worlds' text

Have started a conceptual unit of work. Hopefully students will become more aware of the impact of changing circumstances. The novel being used is 'Goodnight Mr. Tom'. To establish the contextual framework I have designed a ppt which is available on my wikispace: http://stannersenglishmatters.wikispaces.com/
Sections from 'The Chronicle of Narnia' could be used to demonstrate how the film fictionalized factual events in an effective way.
A great deal of material is available regarding the evacuation of children during the Blitz, especially from the IWM, including personal stories of those directly affected.

Extra pages and various resources have also been added to my wikispace that might be useful along with new material for Senior English teachers on my HSC ning site.
Scroll down to find direct links.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Useful Resources from a Victorian Wikispace

The day to day workload often leaves little time to search for innovative ways to deliver units of work. Here is a good site for online tools to make coursework more interesting. Well worth a look when you get time.