Tag Archives: fiction

‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’ – Toni Morrison

“My philosophy of education is that all students are unique and must have a stimulating educational environment where they can grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

I do not believe in penalizing students. I believe in penalizing them for behavioral short fallings but not for intellectual short falls. Tasks in the classroom are an opportunity to improve and a fair chance to build intellectually and creatively and so in my view, penalizing a student and punishing them for not reaching a satisfactory place with a project is stifling their capacity to think and expand. Each student in my class will get the chance to rework their project until it gets to a place they are comfortable enough to turn in. Every student should and will succeed if they so wish.

In line with this, I will not be using a red pen or sharpie to mark up the mistakes of students. Mistakes in my opinion are an opportunity to learn and therefore will be approached with a positive rather than alarming and negative mark.

Finally, according to the recasting method in pedagogy, mistakes will not be highlighted, neither will students be told they are wrong. The desirable answer will be provided to them through the recast method.

‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’

Toni Morrison

“My philosophy of education is that all students are unique and must have a stimulating educational environment where they can grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

I do not believe in penalizing students. I believe in penalizing them for behavioral short fallings but not for intellectual short falls. Tasks in the classroom are an opportunity to improve and a fair chance to build intellectually and creatively and so in my view, penalizing a student and punishing them for not reaching a satisfactory place with a project is stifling their capacity to think and expand. Each student in my class will get the chance to rework their project until it gets to a place they are comfortable enough to turn in. Every student should and will succeed if they so wish.

In line with this, I will not be using a red pen or sharpie to mark up the mistakes of students. Mistakes in my opinion are an opportunity to learn and therefore will be approached with a positive rather than alarming and negative mark.

Finally, according to the recasting method in pedagogy, mistakes will not be highlighted, neither will students be told they are wrong. The desirable answer will be provided to them through the recast method.

One hour to midnight. I’m half asleep listening to my cousin cry about her boyfriend and how she isn’t so sure she can get over him. I have good intentions. A part of me is on the phone comforting her, another part of me is asleep and yet a third part of me is very frustrated with the situation my cousin is in. The man or boy is probably fast asleep or nestled in the warmth of another woman. Not to be entirely pessimistic but flashback to a couple of years ago I thought men and women or to put it quite right, people, could stay faithful and true. Times where we could attempt to raise glasses in a grand and bubbly hope of a happily ever after. I was wrong. People were selfish quite honestly, and no amount of science or providence could explain why or how we had things in hand and still had eyes on other things. I guessed her boyfriend loved/loves her but sort of feels she’s entirely in his grip. I blamed it on complacency. He’s become complacent, I breathed into the phone. I said this in a matter of factly way.  It was midnight after all, and no one had time to spare mincing words.

He feels there’s no need to keep trying. You’re in the net hun.

What net?

The net…

I rolled to a more comfortable position and tried to help her understand what net I was speaking of.

Haven’t you heard of that analogy?

No. I rolled my eyes in disbelief. She’d never heard of that analogy. Interesting.

Well, I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.

Tell me now.

Sigh…

Grandma always spoke of a man at sea who stood aboard his vessel with impatience and a fiery determination in his eyes. He was literally and figuratively hungry for fish. Fish, any kind of fish, big or small, silvery or dirty black, scaly or scaleless. Fact is, he had to return home with a big catch. The sea was boundless and dangerous and he knew he had to take his chance because there was so much more to gain. The gain outweighed the inconvenience. The vessel rolled lifelessly on the undulating current. The man’s gaze was indifferent yet expectant. He had a dirty cup in his big chapped hands. He drank slowly out of it while keeping his eyes on the vast body of water before him. He stayed transfixed until he suddenly let go of the cup. He shook his head several times and shielded his eyes with his hands. He had to see for himself if he was actually right! Fish! Fish! Oh my God Fish! There was fish! The proof was a shiny silvery patch in the water ahead. He sped ahead and threw his net with a great fuss. The silver-gold lay right beneath the water’s surface. He waited. Held his breath and stared. In a flash, he began, tugging his catch back on board. The fish jumped and tossed and wriggled and gyrated. The man remained nonchalant. He’d gotten his catch, after all, and that was all there was to it. He’d been at sea and in pursuit of the fish for ten plus hours, he’d been stressed out and frantic, yet the fish was safely in the net and the chase was over. Mission accomplished, it was time to move on.