http://ludlow.edublogs.org Sooooooo... Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:12:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The article by Tomlinson offers useful tools for handling many of the problems of differentiation that I have struggled with this year. While many of the examples in the text are descriptions of elementary school classroom situations, the methods described are applicable, with appropriate modifications, to middle and secondary ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/04/14/you-say-tomato/ I am very excited about using new technologies to foster literacy. I found Swenson et al (2006) to be an extremely interesting read, and caught myself nodding along at times as I read. This article addresses some of the complications I have found in working with “digital natives” ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/04/06/gleaning-the-tubes/ Ahhh, deconstruction. I've been banging my head against this wall for several months. I didn't really get this until I sat down with RoyalOil and talked it all out. For me, deconstruction only really makes sense in the context of it being a reaction against the rigidity ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/03/31/break-it-down-some-break-it-on-down/ I love Marxist critical theory. There, I said it. I love it. I love the way Marxist theory allows me to review the text in the context of class and status. I love being able to look at texts from a position that questions the ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/03/23/show-me-the-money/ The ubiquitous quality of technology in our lives is starkly contrasted by the availability of technology in the classroom.  While we have podcasts and blogs, streaming media and complicated presentations as an active part of our private lives, the use of technology in the classroom on a practical basis seems ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/03/10/blog-for-you-blog-for-me-blog-for-baby-makes-three/ Our readings this week have focused on classroom management and interaction with our students.  From Curan, to Ramsey, to Alsup & Bush, and on to Flannery’s article on the NEA website, we read about how to talk to students, their parents, and how to manage our classrooms effectively.  Some of ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/02/23/rebel-rebel/ This week we needed to read approximately a hundred pages of Rex Gibson’s Teaching Shakespeare, which I have found to be a well-written and insightful examination of both Shakespeare and creative education methods.  As I read the chapters on the literary devices and tricks of language that Shakespeare used, I ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/02/17/on-words-stories-and-theatrical-devices%e2%80%a6/ Making students accountable for test scores works well on a bumper sticker and it allows many politicians to look good by saying that they will not tolerate failure. But it represents a hollow promise. Far from improving education, high- stakes testing marks a major retreat ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/02/17/words-of-wisdom/ Pondering thoughtful curriculum and the conversation of learning… When I employ the Socratic method in the classroom, I know that I have an agenda. I have a plan, expectations, and anticipated paths the inquiry into a subject will take; what do we do, as educators, when the answer to our ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/02/09/quality-wasnt-that-something-to-do-with-mechanics/ In response to high-stakes testing… The narrative in Alsup and Bush on high-stake testing was very interesting, and raised questions that I have been concerned about during my practicum.  High-stake testing has been forced on schools in an effort by politicians to mandate accountability; ultimately, the judgement will be passed on ... http://ludlow.edublogs.org/2008/02/01/one-two-one-two-this-is-just-a-test-this-is-just-a-test/