“Literally” added a new meaning this past month….literally. A quick look at the Cambridge Dictionaries Online indicates that while the meaning of literally as “ having the real or original meaning of a word or phrase” will now include use of the word “to emphasize what you are saying.” A similar entry from an authority across the pond, Oxford […]
Colette Bennett
Colette Marie Bennett is the Curriculum Coordinator for English Language Arts, Social Studies, Library Media, and Testing for the West Haven Public School System in West Haven, Connecticut.
Previous to this position, she served as the Chief Academic Officer (7-12) for Regional School System #6 in Litchfield, Connecticut. She has 23 years of teaching experience in English Language Arts from grades 6-12, including electives in journalism, drama, and film studies.
A graduate of the Alternate Route to Certification, Bennett also has a Masters in English from Western Connecticut State University a 6th year in Advanced Teaching and an 092 Administrative Certificate from Sacred Heart University, and graduate credits from the GLSP in Social Studies at Wesleyan University. She holds a Literacy Certification (102) from Sacred Heart University for grades K-12.
She has presented how technology is incorporated in classrooms at the Connecticut Computers in Education Conference (2010, 2012, 2014), the National Council of Teachers Annual Conference (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015), and the Advanced Placement Annual Conference (2011) the Literacy for All Conference (2012), and the ICT for Language Learning in Florence, Italy (2014).
She blogs about education at Used Books in Class: http://usedbookclassroom.wordpress.com/
She tweets at Teachcmb56@twitter.com
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, Featured, Uncategorized
Testing the Fruits of Our Labors
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Late August and September means back to school for students, and many primary school teachers are pulling out the traditional “apple” unit to welcome their students. Many teachers will be ready […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum
“Then a Miracle Occurs” Blends Art and Science in Teaching
A favorite New Yorker cartoon of mine is by Sidney Harris. Two men stand in front of a chalkboard. Their demeanor indicates they are mathematicians. Scrawled on the chalkboard to the left of them is step one, a complicated mathematical formula. To the right of them, step three, is the solution to that complicated formula. In […]
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines, Uncategorized
Educators Waiting for Mr. Rochester
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] This summer I have been visiting the family estate at Gateshead, the harsh boarding school Lowood, and the Gothic mansion called Thornfield Hall through the audio download of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre courtesy of SYNC YA. This […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Picture Books for High School (They’re Not in Kindergarten Any More!)
I hold up the book I will be reading aloud, Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. The students start commenting: This is one of my favorite books… I love Thing #1 and Thing #2! I (loved) or I (hated) the movie! Can we read Green Eggs and Ham, too? I settle the students down and begin, “The sun did […]
Posted inCommon Core, Elementary School, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Uncategorized
Education’s Ancient Texts: The Rosetta Stone and Standardized Test Data
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] As I stood in front of the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum in London, I had to wiggle my way through the blockade of tourists who were trying to photograph the small […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Well, They Are Just 17…You Know What I Mean? The NAEP in Perspective
The “Nation’s Report Card” is released by The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) every year where students are tested at ages 9, 13, and 17. In 2012, the testing results for readers at age 17 were abysmal, demonstrating only a 2% growth in reading scores over the past 41 years. I was bemoaning this statistic to a friend who […]
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School
Reading for Fun, Not Reading for Fun(ds)
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2013 test reported that there was a 2% growth in reading scores over the past 41 years for students at age 17. NAEP also reported that students who claimed to read for fun scored higher on standardized tests with the obvious conclusion that the more time a student spent […]