Writing and Teaching

I’m not a big fan of the Danielson Framework that is currently being used to evaluate teachers in many states, and in my native NY before too long. In my essay for NY Times Schoolbook, I explore why it’s so difficult to break good teaching down into component parts.

I have a new essay in the New York Times called Charting the Stages of Teacher Data Report Grief. In it, I look at my own painful encounter with the new teacher evaluation system in New York, which seems designed more to shame than enlighten.

My essay entitled “My (Oops! I Mean, the Author’s) Fight for Pronouns” was published today in the NY Times. Have a look!

I wrote a guest blog for The Pressures of Teaching. It deals with my work with wikis and my discovery of the value of discussion boards. You can read it here.

My essay, called “The Witch Trick”, was published in The Pressures of Teaching by Kaplan. If you go to Amazon’s page for the book and click on the “Click to Look Inside” button above the graphic of the cover, you can read the first several pages of the essay. Take a look! And if you like it, buy a copy for your favorite teachers!

One writing tool I’ve used quite succesfully this year is the wiki. If you’re not familiar with wikis, they are web sites that are created collaboratively by members (think Wikipedia).

The great advantage of wikis is that they allow anyone to edit the pages. As a teacher, you can create a wiki and assign a page to each of your students. There they can write whatever you have assigned to them in draft form, and other students can go in and peer edit.

Two great advantages of wikis:
1. Students love anything internet related. Even when it comes to editing, they prefer to do it online.
2. Whatever changes are made can be easily undone by the author of the page.

There are a number of good sites that can host your wiki. I use Wikispaces. Educators can apply for a free wiki free from advertising. If you’d like to see what one looks like, you can go to mine by clicking here. There isn’t much to see there right now because it’s summer, but it may help you get the idea if your a novice to all this stuff.

I have a new essay on teaching coming out in a book by Kaplan called “The Pressures of Teaching”. The book contains the viewpoints of a number of teacher/writers who explore ways to cope with the increased pressures of teaching in today’s schools. It’s a great book, and anyone interested can pre-order it on Amazon.

There’s an interesting contest brewing for authors of middle grade and young adult novels. Click here for all the details. Kidlit Contest

My three new graphic novels are out! Go to the main page, www.timclifford.com, if you’d like to see them. There’s a new Graphic Novels page where you can see some of the illustrations.

I’ve started using Facebook, which is kind of cool, even if it is an enormous time sink. If you’re a teacher or writer and want to add me, feel free. Graphic novel enthusiasts can add me as well. Just click here.

If you’re one of my students, I’m afraid I’m going to have to say no. I’ve had a number of requests from students and I don’t think it’s appropriate that we ‘socialize’ outside of school. Once you’re out of high school you can add me, assuming you still remember me by then!