Friday, January 31, 2020

Reader, Come Home


One of the most important books in recent years about reading is Maryanne Wolf's Reader, Come Home: the reading brain in a digital world (2018). A subtle, informed and passionate defence of 'deep reading', as opposed to the shallow flitting that has become steadily more common, it is an essential book for all English teachers, parents and, simply, the general public.

Here is a detailed analysis of it. Check out further reading at the bottom of that page.

Tuesday, January 07, 2020

English Meet, 23.4.2020


UPDATE 9.2.20: book tickets here
 
We're planning a new venture for Thursday 23rd April 2020 (Shakespeare's birthday): an evening dedicated to sharing ideas about teaching Leaving Certificate English.

The venue
Whispering House at our school, www.stcolumbas.ie (which was the venue on October 5th for the first-ever Irish researchED) in South Dublin. 7.00pm to 9.00pm. It will be free to attend, but will be ticketed (ticketing via EventBrite later down the line).  See the venue here.

The idea:
Teachers share ideas and experiences on teaching the course. Presentations can be as short as ten minutes, or run longer, depending on need and content. There will be plenty of time for discussion, too.

Some ideas for presenters:
Focus on a character in a text | reading & resource recommendations | modelling and scaffolding ideas | how to start an essay | approach to the Unseen | teaching the comparative | building a knowledge base | improving vocabulary | questioning techniques | effective use of tech | classroom techniques.

Are you interested? Email Julian at sccenglish@stcolumbas.ie