Author Archives: Erik Palmer

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About Erik Palmer

The #1 language art is speaking. By far. I'm committed to promoting the teaching of oral communication in all of its forms.

Looking Into Education’s Crystal Ball

Posted on December 5, 2025 by Erik Palmer

I wrote this nine years ago. I didn’t foresee AI but if I had, it would have added to the argument. See https://pvlegs.blog/2025/10/01/what-ai-cant-do-giving-students-an-ai-proof-skill/ By Larry Ferlazzo on March 14, 2017 12:36 PM       (Larry Ferlazzo is an educator … Continue reading →

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Just because YOU love poetry doesn’t mean…

Posted on November 8, 2025 by Erik Palmer

My mother-in-law worked at a museum of natural history. She curated the Native American collections and took particular interest in the Passamaquoddy tribe in northern Maine. For several years, she took trips to Maine collecting handmade sweetgrass baskets and writing … Continue reading →

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What AI Can’t Do: Giving Students an AI-Proof Skill

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Erik Palmer

AI has dramatically changed education. You know that. We need to be concerned about AI and writing. How can we encourage students to develop as writers in a world where giving a quick prompt to a computer will generate an … Continue reading →

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Shortchanging Speaking

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Erik Palmer

A student turns in this paper: many people think that we should not have ginetticly modifyed foods we could be having health problems in the future if we eat them, Some studys say that they cause cancer. we should pass … Continue reading →

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Never make a slide like this.

Posted on June 10, 2025 by Erik Palmer

Conference season. Lots of great educators will be sharing great ideas with attendees. Almost all of the presenters will be using dreadful slides copying the style of the horrible slides they have seen for the last 4o years or so. … Continue reading →

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Student Voice! You don’t have it if you don’t speak well.

Posted on February 21, 2025 by Erik Palmer

voice The sound produced in a person’s larynx and uttered through the mouth, as speech or song. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/voice Student voice. What a hot topic! I’ve seen educational conferences with themes such as “Raising Student Voice” (NCTE) and “Speak Up! Finding … Continue reading →

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Why Student Presentations Bore Classmates

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Erik Palmer

“In New Jersey v. TLO, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider the appropriateness of the application of the exclusionary rule.  The Court overturned the lower court ruling in a 7-2 decision and held that the search did not violate … Continue reading →

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Don’t hit record yet! Don’t make that podcast! Don’t turn on the Zoom mic! Do this first…

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Erik Palmer

Fourth graders are learning about the Reconstruction. The teacher wants to test out his new green screen tools. He has students speak and posts the video on YouTube. A huge problem: he is so focused on the tech tool that … Continue reading →

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Mind the Gap: How We Make Kids Hate Speaking

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Erik Palmer

“How do you teach speaking?” I ask that questions when I do workshops about the #1 language art. Inevitably, teachers respond by telling me about an assignment they give. We do biography presentations. Students spend three weeks reading about some … Continue reading →

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Fake Quotes: A lesson in how easily we can be duped

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Erik Palmer

We all see the news: trolls are posting fake stories. Russian bots are spreading falsehoods. We all think, “That’s terrible!” We worry that our children will be duped. Why do these lies spread? Why do fake posts work? The answer … Continue reading →

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