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Homework Favors the Privileged

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Photo by  Christian Erfurt  on  Unsplash Nathan was notorious for not completing homework, and when he did, it emerged as a crumpled and stained mess from the depths of his backpack. Was Nathan irresponsible and lazy? Did Nathan lack discipline? Nathan was also known as a fierce competitor on the varsity debate team where he was capturing the attention of the college coaches of an activity that requires responsibility, studiousness, and discipline. What’s more, Nathan was also known for scoring high, really high, on classroom and standardized tests. But, he didn’t do his homework, so despite his academic prowess, Nathan’s grades remained abysmal. What did Nathan’s grades report -- his levels of knowledge and skill? No. His character? No. His work ethic? No. Nathan’s grades reported what his teachers valued and how Nathan fell into their value system for fifty minutes a day. What Nathan rarely told his teachers is that his parents were battling addiction and in and out of rehab o
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Sick and Tired

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School is hard right now. Every thing my body feels makes me wonder, "Do I have a disease  that kills people?" But I can't stay home with each thing I feel. I'd be home more than I'd be at school. My colleagues would have to take on my classes because who wants to be a substitute teacher  in a petri dish? So, I clench my teeth, go to work, and get a headache  from clenching my teeth, or is it a headache from COVID? Then I listen as one student asks if she can take five minutes to cry, as another starts breathing rhythmically because she has fallen asleep, as another teaches me about her mom's mental illness, as another tells me that black is the ugliest color      and she is black, and as another updates me on her dad's brain cancer.  I'm honored they trust me with their hurt. There's just so much hurt and fear. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Photo by  Kelly Sikkema  on  Unsplash
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Location: Sioux Falls, SD, USA
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For My People, Updated 2020

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  You know who you are. Sioux Falls Lincoln 11.5.19 Sioux Falls Roosevelt 11.12.19 Sioux Falls Lincoln 10.31.20 If you want to be a teacher, prepare to let your heart break. Prepare to sit with your students' fears of a pandemic and discrimination and riots and elections. Prepare to sit with your own. Prepare to cry with your student who has endured painful rejection from peers. Prepare to sit with your student who has endured painful rejection from adults. Prepare to refer your student to a counselor. Prepare to refer yourself to a counselor. Prepare to watch your student leave school in handcuffs. Prepare to pray that your hospitalized student will live. Prepare to respond because your student's loved one died. Prepare to hug your student's mom because your student died. If you want to be a teacher, prepare to let your heart break and then realize somehow you were made for this. Photo by  Brian Asare  on  Unsplash Gina Benz teaches AP students, EL students, and future tea
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For My People

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You know who you are. Sioux Falls Lincoln 11.5.19 Sioux Falls Roosevelt 11.12.19 If you want to be a teacher, prepare to let your heart break. Prepare to cry with your student who has been called despicable names. Prepare to sit with your student who feels the pain of rejection from adults. Prepare to refer your student to a counselor. Prepare to refer yourself to a counselor. Prepare to watch your student leave school in handcuffs. Prepare to pray that your hospitalized student will live. Prepare to respond because your student's loved one died. Prepare to hug your student's mom because your student died. If you want to be a teacher, prepare to let your heart break and then realize there's still no other place you'd rather to be. Photo by  Aliyah Jamous  on  Unsplash Gina Benz teaches AP students, EL students, and future teachers at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls, SD, where she began her career as an English teacher 19 years ago.
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The Feedback-Focused Classroom: 4 Square Feedback

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Remember the playground game 4 Square? One large square is divided into quadrants with one player in each as participants bounce a ball between each other. Some quadrants receive the ball more than others, but each usually receives the ball at some point. Likewise, classroom feedback should bounce between the quadrants of what I call 4-Square Feedback. 1. Teacher-to-Student Square one is the most common form of feedback, teacher to student. This feedback must be specific and growth oriented, as well as balanced between what is going well and what needs work. Written comments, a note to the student, and face-to-face discussions work best and set up the teacher as mentor, rather than judge. Grades in the form of letters or numbers are not effective feedback. In fact, education expert Alfie Kohn and other researchers including Anastaysia A Lipnevich and Jeffrey K. Smith claim letters and numbers do more harm than good. For example, “study after study has found that students
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3-2-1 and 1-2-3 Methods for Instruction

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Photo by  NeONBRAND  on  Unsplash My lessons hinge on what I've termed the 3-2-1 method and the 1-2-3 method, which are truly just forms of scaffolding instruction. The 3 represents the whole group; the 2, a small group or pair; and the 1 is for the individual. 1-2-3 in Reading and Literature Instruction For reading instruction, I use 1-2-3. To start, I ask my students to reflect on what they read by writing in their online or physical journal. I provide a quote I want the students to analyze, or I ask a question about theme, symbolism, irony, characterization, or style. What's most important is that the prompt is thought-provoking and difficult to answer without elaboration. Moving to 2, I ask my students to share something about what they have written with a partner or small group. Because the students have had time to collect and develop their thoughts on their own, these discussions tend to be lively and meaningful. I determine how exactly stage 3 will look by
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Raising Scores on the ACT's English Test

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Photo by  John Schnobrich  on  Unsplash These two emails showed up in my inbox this summer. "Hi, Ms. Benz! Hope you are having a great summer! Just wanted to let you know I got my June ACT back and was very happy with the results. The first time I took it I got a 26; my English was my best score at a 28, and my reading dropped my composite drastically at a 22. However, the second time, my English was a 33 and my reading was a 30, increasing by 8 points and putting my composite at a 30. ...I would just like to say thanks because your class had a DIRECT impact on these scores, and they likely would not have improved like this without your class. Your class not only drastically changed my score but also my potential college! I have often been annoyed with the ACT for many reasons— one being because it seems like a glorified reading test— but after your class I realized it can benefit me and not hurt me. Thanks!!!" "Mrs. Benz, I hope your summer is off to a great s
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