Exercise in Futility

May 7, 2008 in Personal Reflection
Tags: 08, 2008, authority, blog, blogs, charts, ed in 08, education, el, English, exercise, futility, graphs, great, kremen school of education, language, learners, modeling, more, new, nominee, of, on, on the tenure track, pictures, scaffolding, strategies, student, student teacher, teacher, technorati, tenure, the, track, vocabulary, year

Check this out:

Though other, longer-lived blogs have found limited success with this, I’m confident that my meager double-digit Technorati authority will lift On the Tenure Track to the cusp. Which cusp is another matter, for another date.

Just click on the image above, and select On the Tenure Track when you do the poll. I’m about halfway down the list or so.

In the meantime, enjoy the following historical recording of the first high-tech user helpline.

We saw this in my godforsaken credential class, using it as a touchstone for discussion about English-language learners and how best to reach out when teaching the really basic skills. That in high school we have to teach really basic skills is a travesty. Call it a tragedy, if you prefer, but I try to avoid cliches.

How basic should I get, when I deal with real, mainstreamed English language learners? How much should I rely on modeling, or pictures, or charts, or graphs? Any more than normal, or should I instead concentrate on vocabulary acquisition?

OFF: Superman’s Super-Hair

January 12, 2008 in Reading Response
Tags: blogs, link, meta, off-topic, Reading Response, superman

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace very clearly establishes that even Superman’s hair is super-strong. In a moment of passion, I felt the need to comment on it.

Sure, the super-hair is super-strong, but there’s a serious question surrounding it: how do you get Superman’s hair? Kryptonite-alloy scissors? Do you have him wear a hairnet and wait for the hair to fall off? How does he comb his hair?

Perplexing. Any ideas? Has this been established elsewhere?

For those of you worried about me, there is precedent for this sort of discussion.

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I’ve never seen such devilish puzzles; I’m not sure whether to be insulted or frustrated; “millennial teachers” haven’t a clue, or have they; and poverty and low test scores mix like water and water.