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Category Archives: Speaking
Listen to the Rough Draft of the Talk. Yes, LISTEN…
Do you ever ask to hear the rough draft? Yes, you read that correctly. I want to hear my students’ rough drafts. Every day, students are speaking in class. Often, teachers assign some talks with higher stakes than the daily … Continue reading
Posted in Media Literacy, Speaking
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What the Oscars can tell us about speaking
Are you going to watch the Oscars this year? In the Before Times, I attended an Oscar party. As the guests came into the party, we were given an Oscar “ballot.” Each of us marked off our predicted winner for … Continue reading
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Student Voice! You don’t have it if you don’t speak well.
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! Educational conferences have themes such as “Raising Student Voice” (NCTE) and “Speak Up! Finding and Using … Continue reading
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Shortchanging Speaking
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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Don’t hit record! Don’t turn on the Zoom mic! Don’t Flipgrid! First…
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
Posted in Remote Learning, Speaking
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Evaluating Speaking
Look around your building. You will see students speaking, sometimes informally, sometimes formally. Sometimes teachers grade those speaking assignments. Now look closely at the rubrics and score sheets that are being used. Each one is unique. No two teachers have … Continue reading
Listening skills: Way More Than “What’s the main idea?”
I sometimes get emails from an organization about improving student listening skills. They point out that speaking and listening are not being addressed in schools and claim that listening is a key piece of the “literacy puzzle.” Kudos to educators who … Continue reading
Posted in Media Literacy, Speaking
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Blame the messenger–Why Online Instruction Fails
You’ve heard the phrase before. Someone brings you some bad news, and, as you begin to get upset, he says, “Hey, don’t blame the messenger!” In a school I worked at, our team leader said it often. He went to … Continue reading
Posted in Remote Learning, Speaking
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Never make a slide like this.
I show people how to be more effective oral communicators. Part of that job is to make the complex simple. What does it take to deliver a talk well? What are the essential skills? How can those skills be condensed … Continue reading
Posted in Speaking
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100 English Teachers Walk Into a Bar
Originally published in California English One hundred English teachers walk into a bar. One by one, the bartender asks them why they became English teachers. The first one says, “I love poetry! I write poetry and … Continue reading
Posted in Speaking
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