Monday Topics

In the comments section, please paste the URL to your group project

English Education

I've been in education for over ten years now (that makes me feel old). During that time I've come across a lot of different students with a lot of different needs, desires, and goals. I've also worked in a lot of different settings. I've found that particular students and the teaching/learning settings where I meet them have forced me to constantly rethink my approach to teaching. I have a habit of trying to reinvent the wheel with every course.
One of the primary reasons I do this is that I can't stand the feeling that what I am teaching is irrelevant and I hate to think that I'm just another person with just another set of rules and expectations for my students to negotiate on route to someplace else. The picture to the left was taken in one of my classes a couple of years ago. My initial question is, how can this be avoided? Is it necessary to turn language into a 'subject' in order to educate? Is is possible to make classroom language relevant? I haven't found the secret, but I'm still looking.

Inquiry Project

Your first tasks are pretty simple.
- Make a small group (2 to 3 people)
- Choose a topic of interest that you want to know more about
- Sign up for a blogger account (one for the group)
- Select a template
- Post a picture and a caption that briefly introduces your topic