"Honey, I just forgot to duck." -Jack Dempsey

Dear colleagues, I "...forgot to duck", and I am stumbling back regarding my personal blog. While absent from my blog, I have been attempting to craft and think about constructivist teaching and the students in my classroom.

Lary K. has graciously enlightened me with some of his Socratic Seminar information, and I have tried to engage my students by connecting them with text through more purposeful questions. Like the question we are to answer for the 23rd about our subject areas, I have asked: "What are the big ideas?" The prior question along with many others have helped to open class discussion regarding Emily Dickinson's poems and others we are discussing in American Literature and English 9. Furthermore, these questions have allowed me to ask students to interact with each other through their writing. I have even used the "Gallery Walk" idea and "Academic Dinner Table" partnered writing activities with poetry. Results have been okay.

Purpose seems to be the real meaning behind the methodology. I am no gift to the inquiry realm, but some of the students have responded. This semester, one student stated, "This has been the most interactive class we have experienced with you in American Literature this year." The prior statement was unsolicited and proclaimed by a student I taught during first semester, and she returned this semester. In no way was the quotation meant to glorify me.

Webpages, edocs, and projector use still dominate my classroom, but I am attempting to rethink my classrooms, my lessons, and my students.