Category Archives: Teaching

A Dog, Ovid, and Poetry

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Kathy

Prologue Sometimes things connect. I find this frequently in my teaching life, my reading life, and my life life. Suddenly lots of themes and ideas keep recurring. I can’t connect the dots among the areas I’m about to describe. I’ll … Continue reading →

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Frederic Wheelock!

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Kathy

I am a teacher blessed with terrific students. It has not always been so.  Through many years, I sometimes struggled with unkind, arrogant students, annoying ones, and lazy ones. I’ve had extremely unpleasant encounters with parents. I’ve been accused of … Continue reading →

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Joe Update

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Kathy

I wrote about my GED student Joe back in November, when I recounted our travails in trying to get him some extra time for the test, due to a learning disability originally diagnosed when he was nineteen. We weren’t able … Continue reading →

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I Am Beset by a Grammatical Dilemma

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Kathy

In the winter semester (they call it “spring,” but, um, no), I teach a writing seminar at an institution I’ll call the More Prestigious University, or MPU. It’s a choosy place, which selects students carefully based on grades and high … Continue reading →

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Rescinding Opportunity

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Kathy

There’s a new GED (high-school equivalency) in town, promoting itself as “a new comprehensive program.” The old GED test, phasing out next month, consisted of readings and multiple choice questions, often very challenging, in the areas of science, reading, and … Continue reading →

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An Irksome Question

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Kathy

There are three weeks left in this semester, and after class today a student asked me one of my least favorite questions. “Will the final cover the whole semester,” she wondered, “or just since the midterm?” This question might make … Continue reading →

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A Bureaucratic Odyssey

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Kathy

Here’s a circuitous tale. It concerns a certain GED student in the program where I volunteer.  I’ll call him Joe. I could write a book about Joe, but suffice it to say he’s a very deserving guy, someone who has … Continue reading →

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Gilmour, Eh

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Kathy

Through that chain of connections we call the internet, I happened upon a Canadian controversy. It seems that one David Gilmour, a part-time English professor at the University of Toronto, has outraged a bunch of people by declaring that he’s … Continue reading →

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All Roads Lead to Rome

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Kathy

My Latin students never know what’s in store for them. Some days it’s a tedious review of demonstrative pronouns, and other days a fascinating account of my medical problems. Today they heard about my feet. That’s because yesterday I received … Continue reading →

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What We Talk about When We Talk about Education

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Kathy

  For about seven years, I have taught a seminar at Case Western Reserve on progressive education and school reform. (Its formal title, believe it or not, is “Schoolhouse Rocked.”) At the beginning, I hoped to introduce my students to … Continue reading →

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