Teachers of Significance

Humanizing Reading through the study of Point of View POV in literature .  From Faulkner's  As I Lay Dying  to contemporary young adult fiction such as 13 Reasons Why , understanding varying points of view and vectors of experience can be enlightening for all readers.  For teens, whose world views are in flux and formation, it is a critical democratic insight to understand and value perspectives that vary from ours.  Literature can provide a key means of growth in this aspect of truth because authors choose to craft literature from a particular--or even multiple!--points of view, and this gives the reader much to consider.   Thus, the maxim:  the teller of of the story IS the story .  Beauty.   I think this line of study is really a beautiful thing.  It guards against solipsism and a narcissistic view of the world, and it creates empathy for others.  It causes one to refine his or her view by considering how it might be different from an other's view.  Finally, as it perta

Constructive Controversy     I want to draw my students into a supportive classroom environment that normalizes struggle and controversy. Argument does not have to be a winner-take-call debate or (on the other extreme) a series of head nods to a commonly agreed-upon platitude.  Democracy takes  more work than that.  The empathy and rationality of rich humanism requires greater depth and search, as well.   Even after 21 years of teaching, I am still learning so much about how to set the stage for respectful and engaged discussion.  What about you? Praise, Pressure, and Performance This short unit focuses on setting the norms of inquiry and engagement that will lead to constructive controversy.  Please check out any of the lessons, or the whole unit!  I taught this in the 2013-14 school year in grade 9, but it could easily run in grades 8-11.   This topic is so compelling, I think, because it will help students to become more reflective on how they receive feedback fro