Tag Archives: high school

The Freshmen Are Coming!

Posted on September 5, 2017 by Barb Knowles

THE FRESHMEN ARE COMING! THE FRESHMEN ARE COMING! EVERYONE TO GET FROM STREETS! Anyone out there who still remembers this movie? The Russians are Coming, 1966

Posted in humor | Tagged comedy, first day of school, freshmen, freshmen orientation, high school, Humor, movies, school, teachers, The Russians Are Coming | 8 Comments

Snow Days

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Barb Knowles

Snow days are awful…..says no teacher ever.

Posted in humor, teaching | Tagged Education, high school, Humor, school, snow, snow days, students, teachers, TEACHING | 13 Comments

Sentences Never Before Heard

Posted on January 28, 2017 by Barb Knowles

There are sentences and phrases that we never thought that we would hear or say. Words that stop us in our tracks. Sentences that you think may never have been said in the history of the English language. Hear are … Continue reading →

Posted in humor | Tagged bizarre, cataracts, eye surgery, fire drills, high school, Humor, language, questions, TEACHING | 25 Comments

An Embarrassing Personal Admission

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Barb Knowles

A month or so ago, in the middle of our department meeting, the supervisor of our high school ENL department asked us to go get the books or short stories that our students were currently reading. We laid them on … Continue reading →

Posted in literature | Tagged authors, diversity, Education, fiction, Grey Eagle Thornton, high school, humility, Iguana Dreams, Josh Lanyon, literature, minority writers, Poetry, reading, writers, Zora Neale Hurston | 47 Comments

A Teaching Experience That Changed My Life

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Barb Knowles

One hopes, as a teacher, to affect a child’s life in a positive way. What most teachers really want is to make a lasting impression and find out later that something they did or said guided a student’s life trajectory. What … Continue reading →

Posted in education | Tagged bowling, college trips, college visits, Education, high school, life changes, Ossining High School, prepare for college, students, SUNY, SUNY Albany, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Delhi, teacher, TEACHING | 46 Comments

“The Mutiny or Editing Sucks” rated AHS

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Barb Knowles

Ok, I’ll say it. Editing SUCKS. I hate everything about it. Since this post is rated AHS, After High School, I don’t have to worry about my high school English students reading this. And throwing it back in my face. … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, humor | Tagged blogging, Brace Maps, commas, editing, essays, going crazy, grammar, high school, Humor, peer editing, reading, TEACHING, The Oxford Comma, thesis statements, writing | 31 Comments

Remembering Why I Love Teaching, Or Do I?

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Barb Knowles

This is a good day to reflect on why I love to teach. Especially because the last couple of weeks have sucked. Let me rephrase that…..my lessons haven’t worked. At all. So back to the drawing board. For all of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Education, grammar, high school, idiomatic expressions, languages, literature, reading, slang, students, teachers, TEACHING, thomas hardy | 36 Comments

BICS is okay, but CALP? Forget it.

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Barb Knowles

Wait, what? I uttered this in our office the other day and everyone laughed. To help you understand why this could remotely be funny while not putting you to sleep instantly, here’s a quick, so-don’t-stop-reading, crash course on learning a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BICS and CALP, bilingual, culture, ecuador, ell, ENL, esl, high school, kichwa, language learning, languages, Spanish | 11 Comments

Teaching is Like Bowling.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Barb Knowles

I’m not good with unscheduled time. I end up walking around my house during summer vacations aimlessly. I think that I should polish the furniture, but end up reading instead. I think that I should clean out the closet, but … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Uncategorized | Tagged blogging, bowling, Education, high school, motivation, opinion, school, school year, students, summer, teachers, TEACHING | 23 Comments

Or you’ll have to sleep in the garage…..

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Barb Knowles

For real my ex-husband threatened my then 4 year old daughter with that punishment. We all know that kids can drive us to distraction and occasionally we have an interaction where the child says “So, I don’t care” for each … Continue reading →

Posted in education, humor, parenting | Tagged high school, Humor, parenting, TEACHING, time-out | 2 Comments