Since I’ve known you online, I have learned a lot from what you have learned. ‘Following’ you, or reading your blogs, makes me a better teacher and a better colleague. But, like your post today states, I still have to do things and figure them out for myself.

I’m pleasantly surprised how much I enjoy blogging with and for students. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I feel like I actually have have some authority (translate: confidence and responsibility) to say those things and, to some extent, I know what they know.

Writing for other teachers or parents or strangers can be intimidating. I like to feel free to change my mind about things, but I also like the mentoring aspect of the comments.

I’m hoping that student blogs will help me blog about teaching more fluently. Is that backwards?

I have to state for the record that the AP Scoring Model is not mine, but is a generic rubric from my AP experiences. This is to say, I am not sure if I got it online (College Board) or from a workshop. I realize this means I got a bit lazy about citing my source for that one. I do like using it, though. However, when AP readers use rubrics for scoring each of the essays on the exam, they have customized rubrics for each prompt. So, can there be one generic rubric? No.

The real question about rubrics is the one Maja asked, which was do they even work. As teachers, we’ve bought into the idea that they do. But every time I use a rubric, I feel constrained by it. I know good writing when I see it. When I assess student writing, I wish I could just go by my expertise, for I do have expertise in this area. That’s my job. We seem not to trust teachers anymore. Everything has to be quantifiable.

The standards and benchmarks movement seems to be a method of standardizing teaching instead of learning, a method of making sure all teachers are teaching the same things. But I suggest that there can never really be standardization since all students are not the same. All teachers are not the same. No document will make it so.

Look forward to reading about your “new” start.

Good luck!

Sadly, I am missing the “light bulb moments” because they are happening in Spanish.

Look for a post on lessons soon.

I’m curious…what type of lessons are you planning for the beginning of school

Good luck, Miss!

I will admit that it was difficult for me to distinguish between feelings of excitement, intimidation and insecurity on the first day. Even though I tried to block out all of the generalizations and warnings, I still felt like I was on my toes all day.

Now that I have had conversations with students, read their writing and realized some of their supposed maladies, I look forward to our exchanges.

They have already taught me a lot. I look forward to helping them on their way.