The image below is a digital artifact that reflects who I am as a collaborative learner. Made for GDPI-PME 801-003, Collaborative Inquiry
Written by Brent Hurley
Written by Brent Hurley
Written by Brent Hurley
As is often the case, I get inspired in my professional practice through Olympic level eavesdropping and spying. I spy on Twitter what my friends and colleagues are doing and think, “That is such a good idea. Could I do that?” I look at blogs and posts by educational leaders and consider, “Is that out … Continue reading “How to open doors: Starting an Instructional Coaching program”
Written by Brent Hurley
My action plan guiding question was, let’s face it, terrible: “How might improving student writing better prepare them for the unknown?” As a result of this ridiculous question, I found it so difficult to make meaningful progress in this area. Why was it so difficult? It was probably because the question is far too broad … Continue reading “One bad question + One controversial poem = exceptional student learning”
Written by Brent Hurley
Inspiration can come from anywhere and at anytime. Thanks to the initiative of fellow cult, I mean Cohort member, Nichola Bendle, I got my act in gear and started to really think about what I truly cared about in my classroom. During a recent PD session with Dr. Bev Freedman, where she was introducing us … Continue reading “Teaching for the Unknown: An Action Plan in Progress”
Written by Brent Hurley
Here’s a quick update to my last blog post (“You Can’t Handle The Truth”), where students in my grade 12 English class are working on a summative evaluation that gives them total choice on the content and form of their ultimate summative evaluations. Today is Monday. Presentations/Assignments are due on Wednesday. Using Google forms as … Continue reading “Does Choice = Confidence?”
Written by Brent Hurley
In the Rob Reiner film “A Few Good Men”, the climax of the movie comes when Lt. Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, puts his arch nemesis, Col. Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, on the stand, hoping to coax a confession from him. The exchange is made famous by the following dialogue, written by Aaron Sorkin: … Continue reading “You Can’t Handle The Truth!”
Written by Brent Hurley
In January I posted my action plan for this year: my goal was to empower and engage grade 12 english students who were studying short stories for the entire semester to write their major short story assignment, not for me, but for an authentic audience. My hope was to pair them up with students in … Continue reading “The Authentic Audience: Do Students Care Who they Are Writing For?”
Written by Brent Hurley
I thought I’d take a moment and discuss a challenge that has plagued English teachers who have bought-in to the idea of ‘voice and choice‘, giving students options for a novel study rather than forcing the entire class to read the same book, but who also feel challenged to track student engagement, promote different types … Continue reading “Using Google Classroom to Differentiate Your Traditional Literature Circles”
Written by Brent Hurley
The nervous rush of what your mom and dad will think when they read your new homework assignment for English class can be terrifying. It’s often why students no longer share their writing with their parents; also, it was the same reason why I didn’t want my parents to be the ones who taught … Continue reading “Writing for an Authentic Audience: An Action Plan for Gr. 12 English”
Written by Brent Hurley
Today’s blog post is about… you guessed… taking chances. It’s scary as a professional to also be a risk taker, yet I’ve found that it often leads to my best moments as a teacher. A few years back I took a chance and decided to take a year’s leave of absence so that I could … Continue reading “Taking Chances at Sea and in the Classroom”