Posted by: Sara Carbone on: February 29, 2012
Elana is a feisty, intelligent high school student from Connecticut. She describes qualities in an English teacher that I’ve found to be key and, unfortunately, not so typical. Sara Carbone: What makes a great English teacher? Elana: A great English teacher knows how to interact with their students and knows the text being read in class [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: February 7, 2012
Erica is an experienced educator currently teaching 7th grade science at a Westchester, NY public school. Sara Carbone: When are parents too involved? Erica: Some parents are overly involved, requesting homework directly from the teacher. At the middle school level, this does not prepare your child to take responsibility for her schoolwork. She becomes dependent [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: January 26, 2012
High school English teachers generally have your child’s best interests in mind. The problem is some teachers and even entire school districts don’t know how to effectively teach reading and writing. Your kid is left to flounder through as best he can until he can flee high school and not look back – until he [...]
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: January 22, 2012
1. When your kid gets a poor grade on a test you: a) Lecture him about what he did wrong until his eyes glaze over or he walks away b) Get into a fight about it and take his cell phone away for a week c) Sit down with him and start with several gentle, [...]
Teacher Comments – A Road To Higher Grades
Posted by: Sara Carbone on: January 22, 2012
Teacher comments on a test or paper are a straight road to a higher grade. The teacher is writing down what she wants, but most kids don’t look past the final grade. So sit down with your kid and decipher teacher comments in the margins or at the end of the paper or test (particularly [...]