At the beginning of my teaching career, I worked as the 8th grade English Language Arts teacher in a K-8 parochial school. Once a month, my students would pair up with the kindergarten students to complete a creative project: paper maché globes, paper kites, Q & A interviews. On those afternoons, my noisy and awkward adolescents longingly stared at various […]
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 inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Literacy
Prepare for Next Week's Forecast: Snowy, with a Chance of School
It’s snowing again in New England. It’s February. No surprise. In fact, snow days are not a surprise for thousands of school districts across the US. Snow days interrupt instruction. Again, No surprise. It’s a fact that schools have requirements for school instruction days and for instruction hours or seat time. So if snow days and […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Literacy, Middle School
American Teachers Work 11-14 % More, Testing Not Included
Yes, American teachers do work more hours than their international counterparts, but exactly how much more could be a matter of perception versus reality, and testing may be to blame. A recent study comparing the number of hours worked by American teachers shows the difference in instructional time is not as significant as has been publicized in the past. […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Literacy, Opinion
The Queasy Mix on Social Media
I uploaded videos of my mother and her sisters to YouTube. Seated together on a sunny summer afternoon, four of seven sisters, they chat about family recipes and stories of their youth. I shared the clip this past summer on the popular video platform so my cousins could also enjoy watching their mothers and aunts. Now, I […]
Posted inCommon Core, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
Digital Writing Text: "Snow Fall-The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek"
[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”] The blizzard raging outside recalls the looping GIF of drifting snow that opens the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times feature story, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek.” As a model […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies
Let Them Make T-Charts!
Pity the copier. Stuck in the windowless corner of the teacher’s room, churning out page after page of quizzes, newsletters, and course descriptions. Probed and shoved and slammed, the oft maligned copier needs a break. What could teachers do to lessen the toll that results in the overheated roller or stapler malfunction? Stop the madness….there is no […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Disconnected Audiences: 2015 Oscars and English Classroom Literature
The Hollywood Academy released the 2015 nominations this past week, and their choices for best picture, best actor, and best director lit a firestorm on social media about the lack of diversity in their choices. Some of the heated discussions called into question the make-up of the Academy, which according to a  2014 Los Angeles Times article is: 93 percent […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
Literature Circle Roles in New Wrappings
Educators regularly refurbish old ideas with new wrappings.  Take for example, the literature circle. The literature circle has been in education since 1982 when, according to Wikipedia, fifth grade students in Karen Smith’s class, organized themselves loosely into groups, and started to discuss individual novels.  Smith was surprised at the degree of their engagement with the books and the […]