Search

A Classroom with a View

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all" –Aristotle

Tag

writing

U.S.-Vietnam Student Book now available on Amazon!

La Porte High School seniors in La Porte, TX and The Olympia Schools 10 X-cel students in Hanoi, Vietnam, worked on a year-long cultural study that culminated in their own published eBook. The book is the product of their discussion, collaboration, and learning over the course of the school year. Reflections is now available online at iTunes (search Reflections Global Connections), Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Book Country, and now Amazon.

All proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to International Rescue Committee (IRC), a charity that operates in more than 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities to provide humanitarian aid to people affected by conflict and natural disaster.

Click this link to learn more about their work and achievement.

Students published their book “Reflections”

Facilitator Daniel Rymer with GCXN students Facilitator Daniel Rymer with GCXN students

At the beginning of the school year, I wrote about Global Connections, a group of sophomore students at The Olympia Schools in Hanoi, Vietnam, and senior students at La Porte High School in La Porte, Texas, who initially began their interactions by studying Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (GCXN, Part 1 and GCXN, Part 2). However, as their familiarity with each other grew, they asked to take on a much more monumental project: to write a book that explores their cultural similarities and differences and that provides a platform for their voices to be heard. They were undeterred by our warnings that a project of that magnitude would take patience, focus, hard work, and stamina. Well, as anyone with any experience with teenagers knows, when they put their minds to something, they do it. And they certainly did! Continue reading “Students published their book “Reflections””

Taking student anxiety out of writing

essay writingDuring the first week of school, I give my seniors a questionnaire that, among other things, asks them to reflect on their writing strengths and challenges. One particular question asks students to discuss how they feel when they are given an in-class essay to write, and each time I ask, the overwhelming response is always “anxious” followed closely by dread. Worse, many of them describe their physical reactions to writing assignments with symptoms that are tantamount to anxiety attacks: an inability to breathe, clammy hands, headaches, racing heart beats, scattered or blank thoughts, blurred or tunnel vision, difficulty sitting still, nausea. When I ask students to consider why they feel this way when given a writing task, many of them cite failure and judgment as the chief reasons for their anxiety.

As every writer knows, there’s an element of exposure and vulnerability when writing for an audience that can be intimidating even for the most seasoned of us, but which for novice writers can easily become debilitating. Their struggle is real and rather than risk failure or a blow to their self-confidence, some students simply will choose not to write anything, feeling Continue reading “Taking student anxiety out of writing”

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑

Eduflack By Patrick R. Riccards

The Intersection of Education Communications, Policy, and Politics

EduBloggers

Dedicated to truth-telling for democracy.

Rawe-struck

The wonder-filled life of a single older-ish mom.

My B+ Attempts at Being All That

I'm funny. I promise. If you don't believe me, ask me; I'll set you straight.

ideas.ted.com

Explore ideas worth spreading

Moving Paradigms

Essays on Education and on Life

Kenneth Fetterman

Teaching & Learning; Educational Reform: Professional Development

Ana Spoke, author

It's time to get hella serious about writing!

Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha

Musings and books from a grunty overthinker

TED Blog

The TED Blog shares news about TED Talks and TED Conferences.

only the truest of facts

one terrible comic per weekday, by Ryan Morrison

%d bloggers like this: