There is not enough non-fiction reading assigned in high schools. There are textbooks and fiction, mostly assigned by English Departments, but there is a dearth of good non-fiction texts offered to students. However, there is one safe text to assign, Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods first published in 1998. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” […]
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, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Uncategorized
On This State Standardized Test, the Story Is Not Literature
March in Connecticut brings two unpleasant realities: high winds and the state standardized tests. Specifically, the Connecticut Academic Performance Tests (CAPT) given to Grade 10th are in the subjects of math, social studies, sciences and English. There are two tests in the English section of the CAPT to demonstrate student proficiency in reading. In one, students are given […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Informational Texts: Speeches Delivered with Love from Bruce and Steve
For teachers who are looking for guidance on how to teach informational texts at the high school level, there is a model lesson on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address at the EngageNY website. The text of the speech delivered by Lincoln on November 19, 1863, is short enough to fit on two pages or two bronze plaques on a memorial […]
Posted inCommon Core, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Opinion, Uncategorized
Common Core Should Share Common Language
[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”] A visitor walking into a school encounters the school’s mission statement on a banner or etched on a plaque, or painted on to the wall. The mission statement defines the school’s […]
Posted inBook Review, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
How Readicide Has Changed My Teaching and Purchasing Practices
Readicide is defined as, “the systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices often found in schools.” I fear I was a Readicide practitioner in my early years of teaching, but I am now trying to recover and adopt practices suggested in Kelly Gallagher’s book Readicide. Gallagher points to a crisis […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, From the Front Lines, Principals' Corner
Hold that Intercom! Interruptions are Educationally Costly
The crackle of the speaker..and then the voice. Twenty-six ninth grade brains stop working on the task at hand. They wait for the name. “Jane Doe report to the office.” The 26 ninth grade students either: A. dismiss the announcement entirely and try to get back to work; B. snicker quietly to themselves because they […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Principals' Corner
Who's Developing Whom? Success with Do It Yourself Professional Development
Why don’t schools routinely tap their best teachers to organize and deliver custom-tailored professional development to their peers?This was the question posed by Nancy Flanagan regarding teacher professional development in an article titled , “Who’s Developing Whom?” posted in Education Week Teacher (1/28/2012).Well, in response to her question, I would like to suggest that she visit my school (virtually, […]
Posted inCommon Core, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy, Uncategorized
English Teachers Should Have More than a Footnote
The English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS) wants students to read in every discipline from elementary school through grade 12. The standards demand an increase in the reading of informational texts, the genre formally known as non-fiction. So where is the passage that concludes that English/Language Arts teachers will continue to teach fiction and literary non-fiction […]