Blogging and the Daily Edit Two on-going assignments in seventh grade are the independent reading blog and the Daily Edit. I have this crazy idea that if I wants kids to value reading and to find books that they like, I need to make room in my curriculum for independent reading. So every other Monday…
Author: Kate Tabor
English teacher in a JK-12 school
Cousins Gather
We have landed back at home after our road trip to South Dakota. We started on a rough note with some suspected brake problem that sent us home to trade cars. Folded like human origami we headed west. We buried Mom’s ashes in a beautiful service, stopped in Chamberlain, and ended up across the state…
My year with iPads – part 2
With Romeo and Juliet, we went pretty iPad lite. I had introduced GoodReader, so I did email a PDF synopsis of each act as we went along. We read the play in class, and yes, I know we could use an e-text of the play, and I may do that, but the Folger Library edition…
Love what is mortal
On Saturday we buried my mother’s ashes. In the Catholic section of Greenwood Cemetery, we gathered – Both of my siblings, most of our children, one beloved first cousin and his sons, my uncle, and Mom’s best friends. After a week of intense 100+ degree heat, the glorious weather made the gathering a relief. It…
Blue highways
Yesterday we interred Mom’s ashes. It was a lovely service, and it gets it’s own blog post. But traveling from Brookings to Chamberlain, our destination for the night, allowed some options, all of which took almost exactly the same amount of time. We chose route 2, mostly Blue Highways. This was lovely as it gave…
My year with iPads – part 1
Forgive me if I’m feeling a bit defensive. This past academic year we piloted a 1:1 iPad program with the seventh grade, and it was generally successful. Actually, considering the scrutiny that we were under, the general lack of professional development, and the fact that we were not allowed to fail, we did spectacularly. I…
Dare to Live the Life You Dream
Today we attended a memorial service for the father of my dear neighbor and friend. Phillip was 89 – he died last Thursday, and with his death the world is a poorer place, though he left behind a rich legacy of music, family, food, passions, and friends. He was many things: a composer, music educator,…
Two Places at Once
I’m getting some traffic here from Constructing Modern Knowledge‘s website, and if ever there was a way to be in two places at once, this year I would love that ability. If I could, I would be in beautiful Manchester, NH, July 9-12 this year. I learned so much at CMK10 and CMK11 about learning…
The moving walkway is ending
Look down now. Well, I made it. This was a challenging year, and today if I sit down, I fall asleep. Here is the year by the numbers: 72 bright students. So smart, so thoughtful, such independent thinkers. Six or so really difficult to teach young men. Again, very bright, pulling the class. Sometimes wonderful…
Warrant, rapier, nuptial – words in class
This week we were still reading Romeo and Juliet. I don’t really want my students to go home and try and read it themselves (would like them to not get completely frustrated), so I decided to look at vocabulary – words that might still be in every day use but that they might not know….
Mom – laughing at the stars
It was a year ago today that Mom died. It’s been fast and it’s been agonizingly slow. I took today to do some things that Mom would have liked. I listened to Stan Kenton, I went to mass, and tonight I’m going to enjoy a glass of scotch. My daughter Emily reminds me that Mom…
Living on the Lip of Insanity 