Posts by Amy
Classroom Community: A Glimpse Into One of My Favorite Spaces
By Kate Leonard-Barr Think of your list of favorites. A brief, but not exhaustive, list of my favorites would include good coffee (that’s on yours too, isn’t it?!), hydrangeas, quirky music, hiking and skiing, creating just about anything – you get the idea. I also feel fortunate that teaching and learning remain steadfastly on my…
Read MorePriming the Brain with Anticipation Guides in IRW Practice
By Lois Todd-Meyer These are a few thoughts I wanted to share after reading the article The Fall, and Rise, of Reading: Students often don’t complete assigned reading. Professors are finding ways to solve that puzzle, by Steven Johnson. My sense is that pre-teaching is becoming more important in helping to establish an authentic purpose in the minds…
Read MoreCommunities of Practice: A Room for Ourselves
Graphic illustration by Nitya Wakhlu, produced at the Experience Engagement conference in October 2015. A reflection of NADE 2019 by contributor Phip Ross When we started our shift to a dynamic* sequence of developmental English pedagogy and structure in 2014, I started using the phrase community of practice (CoP) during our meetings. While my use…
Read MoreWe’re More Alike Than You Know
by Kristi Leibhart I’ve been teaching developmental or foundational English classes in both reading and writing at NPCC for the past five years and it just occurred to me: I, too, was once a developmental student. Yes, I’m qualified to teach these students. They are in good hands. I’m well-qualified. I spent my entire life…
Read MoreCreating Authentic Bonds Between Speaker and Listener by Mary Birdsall
Recently I read an article that discussed how to ask better questions, particularly when establishing relationships. The author, Lila MacLellan, cited research by Harvard professors Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie John that emphasized the importance of asking follow-up questions. I gave this a try today as I met my first two classes of our summer…
Read MoreTeachers as Writers: Earned Expertise
by Phip Ross I get the honor of talking with teachers about their practice fairly regularly. I could say it’s part of my job, but it’s really not how I think of the work. The way each of us go about cracking that nut which is effective practice is pretty fascinating and every classroom context…
Read MoreWhat’s New at NDEC?
As our 2018 conference approaches, there are several exciting changes to take note of. First, our website has a new look! Take a moment to peruse the site and soak up the new aesthetics. We hope you’ll find the update more visually appealing and easy to navigate. When you visit the site, you’ll see there…
Read MoreOMG Where Did My Essay Go: Why Digital Literacy is Crucial in Developmental English
By Jessie Lovett Allen A student gripping a laptop approached me in a panic because she had accidentally deleted her essay file. I said, “Did you bring your laptop to the tech support office?” Of course I’d given students tech support contact information. Heck, the helpdesk office was across the hall from our classroom. But…
Read MoreThe Language of Dis-/Connection
by Phip Ross Two observations from the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper in the past seven days make me want to be alert to how language is used to label and narrow our understanding of one another. Tell me what you think. Last week in the advice column by Amy Dickinson—I do read this on occasion…
Read MoreCreative Inspiration from NDEC 2017 Conference
This quarter I went full throttle and just made every activity a collaborative or visual project. (That’s full throttle for me, anyway.) Maybe my colleagues have seen some of the things my students have done on the classroom walls? I usually don’t implement so many projects into my courses, so I’m curious as to what…
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