@mrbg

High school English & journalism teacher in year 22. Interested in authentic learning, intrinsic motivation, and student expression. Celtics fan. (he/him)

 Western Massachusetts
bgenglish.blogspot.com/
Joined December 2007
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Looks like I'm going to the sky, people. Hope to see you there, especially the good folks of #bfc530.
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Remmelt Ellen 🛑@RemmeltEMar 26
College luddites reject "The Year of AI Exploration" With this beautiful hand-typed letter.
Dear President Ambar, we are writing to you on a typewriter that is over 70 years old. This is a machine that we all know well. With it, we misspell words without the crutch of spell check or generative AI and we think intently about every phrase we pound out. As we force ourselves, for once, to slow down, we engage in a cognitive dialogue with ourselves. We do not seek perfection because we know that education is about the growing and challenging of our young minds' potential, not the chasing of institutional 'gold-star' approval. We do not believe that your so-called 'Year of AI Exploration; providing enterprise ChatGPT and Google Gemini subscriptions to every Oberlin student aligns with our college's founding principles. You claim that this year will be one of experimentation, not adoption. But even just one semester of accepted (encouraged even) chat bot use will jettison our student body down a lazy and irredeemable tunnel of intellectual destruction. We are a college grounded in

ALT Dear President Ambar, we are writing to you on a typewriter that is over 70 years old. This is a machine that we all know well. With it, we misspell words without the crutch of spell check or generative AI and we think intently about every phrase we pound out. As we force ourselves, for once, to slow down, we engage in a cognitive dialogue with ourselves. We do not seek perfection because we know that education is about the growing and challenging of our young minds' potential, not the chasing of institutional 'gold-star' approval. We do not believe that your so-called 'Year of AI Exploration; providing enterprise ChatGPT and Google Gemini subscriptions to every Oberlin student aligns with our college's founding principles. You claim that this year will be one of experimentation, not adoption. But even just one semester of accepted (encouraged even) chat bot use will jettison our student body down a lazy and irredeemable tunnel of intellectual destruction. We are a college grounded in

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This is sadly true too much of the time.
Ms. Benison-@BenisonMrs5 Sep 2025
Never forget that teachers don't get to choose the programs they use, the curriculum they follow, or how the students are grouped to receive intervention. We are often asked to "be creative" when the only effective solution is to change the program, or to rearrange groups, or to have additional staff support the children. Many teachers(experienced and new ones) get burned out because the system often asks them to do what is ineffective and sets them and their students up for failure.
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Peter Weller retweeted
Jonathan Haidt
@JonHaidt12 Nov 2024
Now that schools are going phone-free, we have to ask about the computers and tablets kids are given in schools. Do they help, or distract? We're starting a series on ed tech at AfterBabel.com. Jared Cooney Horvath says: They distract. afterbabel.com/p/the-edtech-…
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Can we now finally start investing in civics education (not to mention the other social studies too) like we do STEM!?! It is seriously destroying our nation. npr.org/2022/03/29/108946775…
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Anyone working in a school this week deserves appreciation and support. We saw some extreme behavior the day after the election. Particularly troublesome were the students who shouted "Trump won! White power!" as they walked by my wife's Black colleague in the hallway. #bfc530
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We've done it, good people of #bfc530. Welcome to Friday. Peter, high school English teacher from Western Mass, who had a great time visiting The Pequot Museum yesterday with my students. It took about 6 hours to complete all the necessary paperwork, but it was worth it.
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The best time to give feedback to students on an essay is during the composition process. I find informal check-ins where I scan a student's draft and offer one or two suggestions via a brief conversation go a long way toward improving the final product. #bfc530
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Good morning and happy Thursday, #bfc530. Peter, high school English teacher from Western Mass, who today is going on a field trip with 41 high school sophomores to The Pequot Museum to learn about the history and culture of Native Americans in the northeast.
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In English there are so many ways to bring in students' perspectives and interests to make the curriculum "real." For example, one doesn't need to look very far to find parallels between our society and Lord of the Flies. #bfc530
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Well, we're halfway to the weekend, and that is something worth appreciating. Peter, high school English teacher from Western Mass, who yesterday had a mixed bag of PD which left teachers with no prep time. And of course today begins with a curriculum meeting. #bfc530
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Peter Weller retweeted
Adam Grant
@AdamMGrant4 Nov 2024
When parents only ask about grades and goals, kids infer that achievement comes first. To signal that we value their well-being and character, we should also ask about happiness and kindness: -What made you feel joyful? Sad or worried? -Who did you help? Who helped you?
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We need to change the model and create space for teachers to lead FROM the classroom. Who better than the people actually doing the work right now?
Blake Harvard
@effortfuleduktr4 Nov 2024
Dear colleges of higher education, I am BEGGING you to have Ed. D.'s that don't have the word 'leadership' in them. I want to be a better teacher...not get out of the classroom. Sincerely, Classroom teachers everywhere
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I've been known to employ "how's it going?" with much regularity. #bfc530
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Welcome to the first Monday of November, #bfc530. It's going to be a busy week, but thankfully a 3-day weekend awaits at the end, so let the journey begin. Peter, high school English teacher from Western Mass.
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You can end the workday and come back the next morning and pick up where you left off in most jobs. You can't just show up and teach in the morning without spending time outside of work hours preparing for the day. This has been normalized as a profession, and it can't go on.
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We had a tradition called Senior Dress Up Day where students wear Halloween costumes and walk in a parade around the school. It's a lot of fun. We'll do other things throughout the year as well to try and bring joy into the classroom. #bfc530
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Good morning and happy Friday, #bfc530. We've made it. Peter, high school English teacher from Western Mass who celebrated a balmy Halloween and is now ready for November to usher in cooler weather and even some rain. This was one of the driest Octobers I can remember.
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I dare say I do like them apples.
Yes on Question 2@question2_ma30 Oct 2024
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School graduate (and actor) Matt Damon is YES on 2!
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Conversations, low-stakes writing assignments, activities, quizzes, discussions, essays, partner and group work... lots of ways to understand the extent to which students are learning and where they need additional assistance. #bfc530
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