April is Poetry Month. What should you do about this? Take advice from Sir Philip Sidney and “Look in thy heart and write.” Sidney composed “An Apology for Poetry” (Defence of Poesie) in 1575, and in this essay he maintains poetry combines the liveliness of history with philosophy; this combination is more effective than either history or philosophy in inspiring readers. According to Sidney, poetry […]
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, Uncategorized
Junior Year: Ruined by Testing, Testing, Testing
[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”] Not so long ago, 11th grade was a great year of high school. The pre-adolescent fog had lifted, and the label of “sophomore,” literally “wise-fool,” gave way to the less insulting “junior.” Academic challenges […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
A Tale of Two Field Trips: Perilous Yet Rewarding
I recently took 11th and 12th grade on a field trip to Yale Repertory Theatre to see These Paper Bullets, a “modish remake” of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. We had arrived early enough to have a little time before the show to stroll the sidewalks of Yale/New Haven and grab a cup of coffee before filing into the University Theatre. The weather […]
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, Uncategorized
"TestingTalk" Website Where Teachers Can "Be Brave"
Education historian and activist Diane Ravitch was the keynote speaker at the 86th Saturday Reunion, March 22, 2014, at Teacher’s College in New York City. Introducing Ravitch was the high energy Lucy Calkins, Director of Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project, who took several minutes using her “teacher voice” to address the crowd with a litany of […]
Posted inCommon Core, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Hate the Language of the Common Core? Blame the Adverbs (Angrily)
[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”] I believe the author Stephen King would hate the language of the Common Core State Standards for one reason: unnecessary adverbs. His book On Writing has a section devoted to explaining why The adverb is […]
Posted inCommon Core, Current Events in Education, Uncategorized
Begin March Madness: Testing and the Smarter Balanced Assessment
[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”] March Madness is not exclusive to basketball. March Madness signals the season for standardized testing season here in Connecticut. March Madness signals the season for testing in 23 other states as […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Now What? Rated "R" Responses in English Class
Planning on teaching literature in high school? I suggest a brush up on literary pitfalls….and work on developing a sense of humor because sooner or later, a student, (usually a boy) will come upon one of the following words in some great work of literature: Screw. Bang Bosom. Laid. Nuts. In context, these words have been […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Independent Reading Book Choice Questions
Independent reading in our school grades 7-12 means students read books of their own choosing, make recommendations, and keep records of what they read. Because of a illness on my staff, we have a substitute (Natalie) who is an enthusiastic graduate of our high school school with a BS degree in Creative Writing. She has been […]