Reflections, Reactions, and Revolutions in Education
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
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
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
I have struggled for weeks to identify in a coherent manner what I want to focus on for my Cohort Action Plan. Selfishly, I have used a challenge I’m facing in preparing for an upcoming unit as the foundation for my action plan. So, ladies and gentlemen, without further delay, here is the 2015 Spring … Continue reading “Action Plan: Skills vs Content in the Multi-Text English Classroom”
Written by Brent Hurley
Ok… I made it! Or we made it! Either way, it’s great to think back on what I’ve learned over the past few months. When you go to your first Cohort 21 meeting a number of things happen: 1. Parts of your brain start to drip out of your ear… but you try to act … Continue reading “Reflection on Action: Feedback about Feedback”
Written by Brent Hurley
Despite an emergency meeting at GCS with Mr. Nichols regarding my miserable progress on the action plan, I had difficulty putting into words what the central focus of my action plan would be. So, I will leave it to Pink Floyd to sum it up for me, in the immortal words of the song “Another … Continue reading “21st Century Action Plan: “Teachers! Leave Us Kids Alone!””
