tengrrl’s thoughts & news on teaching writing, literacy, and literature
May 4, 2010
This week in the United States is Teacher Appreciation Week, a time set aside each year to honor the hard work that educators do every day in the classroom and beyond.
Take one of the PTA’s Teacher Appreciation Week Polls and let me know what you think are the best characteristics of a good teacher!
April 23, 2010
Yes, I really mean “alot” and not “a lot.” As the website Hyperbole and a Half explains:
If you have students making the dreaded alot spelling error, this imaginary creature is bound to be a memorable solution. Besides, who wouldn’t love this cute creature alot!
[Found via @craniac]
April 22, 2010
If you’re teaching Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried,
In addition to talking about his novel, O’Brien talks about the process of writing and the role that literature plays in our lives. Having just written an Inbox blog on making personal connections to the texts that we read, I was especially taken by O’Brien’s story about how his writing had touched one specific reader. He concludes by noting that “Literature does touch people; it’s not just to be read in English classes.”
The video interview is accompanied by a text transcript, so you can read excerpts to your classes if you do not have the equipment to play the video itself in the classroom.
April 21, 2010
As a young reader, I wanted stories about young girls, about their accomplishments as women, and about the journeys they took from child to adult. I didn’t want to be bothered with stories of boys becoming apprentices, men fighting battles, or chopping their way through forests. I wanted to see people who were like me. I wanted to read about people who were like the person I wanted to become. Read more in my Inbox blog and learn how helping readers make personal connections to texts is related to El dÃa de los niños/El dÃa de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) on April 30.
February 21, 2010
I’m finally digging out from the cold or flu (not sure which) that has had me buried under blankets for the last five days. Tuesday and Wednesday I couldn’t speak above a whisper. Thursday I was so gone that I didn’t even realize it was evening until someone else told me. I thought it was still mid-morning.
Two bottles of cough syrup and a box of Nyquil later, I’m feeling a bit better, but realizing just how much work has piled up. To catch up, I’m going to focus on posting only the most significant 3 or 4 news stories from the past few days. I’ll then start fresh today with the daily reports. Seems like the best course when there are over 1000 stories piled up in Google Reader.
After that, it’s on to some Bedford blog entries and other work that’s piled up while I was sniffling and coughing. So bear with me. I’ll have things back in order soon!
February 2, 2010
If you’re even slightly interested in how you might use Twitter in the classroom, take a look at William M. Ferriter’s essay “Why Teachers Should Try Twitter” from Educational Leadership.
The article explains, “For educators who use this tool to build a network of people whose Twitter messages connect to their work, Twitter becomes a constant source of new ideas to explore.” It includes some tips and how-to’s as well as a personal story on how the experience affected the author’s understanding of differentiated instruction.
December 14, 2009
It’s 5 months and 6 days. I’ve been assured that the refund check has been cut and I should have it this week. Here’s what happened late last week.
12/10/09:
2:42 PM, I returned the call from Mary, an Executive Support Specialist in Oakbrook, Illinois. I got someone else, and was told that Mary wasn’t taking any calls because of computer problems. The person was going to walk my information over to Mary so she could return my call later.
3:10 PM, Mary tells me that they are “working to get the refund out” and that they are “hoping to have resolution today or tomorrow.” She can’t really tell me anymore, but mentioned that she knew I’d been told a lot of things by a lot of different people and she was working to figure out what was going on.
12/11/09:
11:22 AM, Mary, the Executive Support Specialist in Illinois, calls again. Mary tells me that they are getting the check out in the next few days and that I should have it this week. She says she has checked and the process for the check has been released (whatever that means).
She also had an explanation for what caused this nightmare. Apparently someone in the Urbana office has been out on extended sick leave for three and a half months. The customer-savvy Comcast people in Urbana have just been piling things on this person’s desk and no one is taking care of them.
In other words, anyone looking for a refund or whatnot from the Urbana Comcast is probably in the same situation I am. Every time I called and asked for my refund, they just added another request to this huge pile that no one is taking care of.
Of course, that only explains 3.5 of the 5+ months delay, but it’s better than no explanation.
The conclusion so far
Comcast’s corporate office may care, especially if you splash a lot of complaints all across the Internet.
Comcast’s Urbana, Illinois office doesn’t care in any way at all. No company that cared could allow customer service requests to sit for 3.5 months.
December 10, 2009
Try this incredibly simple but quite useful analogy to reach students who are struggling with issues of audience and style. Soon they’ll be speaking to, and not at, their audience.
December 9, 2009
It’s now 5 months and a day. Still no $300 refund check. Still no explanation for why.
12/08/09:
After I tweeted and blogged about the situation, Detreon, the most recent Comcast rep I’ve communicated with, left a comment on my first blog entry about the problem:
Our regional offices were closed yesterday evening when we last corresponded, but I’ve asked that someone reach out to you this morning to make this right. We will be in touch!
Okay, I figured I would give them time to make this phone call or email contact. They seemed to be trying.
Detreon tweeted at 3:15 pm to ask if I’d gotten the message. He misspelled my first name. I didn’t reply. I was hoping to hear from the regional office, as he said, and I got busy with other things.
Sadly, there was no contact from the regional offices.
12/09/09:
5:24 PM, I get an email from an Oakbrook, Illinois rep, Mary:
Thank you for contacting our executive office with your questions and concerns. We value your business and appreciate the opportunity to resolve your issue as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, our attempts to contact you at (217)***-**** have been unsuccessful. At your earliest convenience please contact us to address your service and billing concerns to ensure efficient resolution.
Office Contact number: (800) 630-2140 ext. 82334
Office Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm, Monday through FridayWe look forward to hearing from you.
Right. There’s a shock. You cannot reach me at the phone number that is no longer mine. Please note that I have given them the correct phone number every time I’ve talked to someone, including in my last message to Detreon.
Of course, by the time I get home and find this message the office is closed.
5:26 PM, More confusing, Mary has left a message on my phone here in Virginia as well, also. So she has the right phone number and after sending her email, she called the right number.
Her message refers to my “refund request.” Why can’t they just tell me if this check has been cut or will ever be cut? It’s still a “request” so I’m assuming there’s no check yet.
Again, they’re closed, so there’s nothing I can do right now.
Sigh. I have a receipt that shows a $300 credit. I have been told over the past 5 months by repeated customer service reps that there is indeed a credit on my account.
Yet 5 months and 1 day later, I still have no indication that Comcast has any intention of sending me this money. How can $300 be so precious to a company that is making a $37,000,000,000 bid for NBC? Just 300 little dollars. 0.0000000081081% of your bid.
To me however, $300 would be a 535% increase in my checking account balance. It matters desperately to me.
I know that my account with you has been messy with you Comcast. My life was turned upside-down last fall when I had to move to Virginia to help take care of my mother. My finances got very confused, and I was late paying you. But you have your equipment back, AND you had me pay for that equipment. I don’t have a job right now. $300 matters to me. You said it was due to me. Over and over, you have told me a check would be on the way. Will it ever be?