By Jennifer Fletcher Mark Twain writes in Tom Sawyer Abroad that a man who carries a cat by the tail gets “knowledge that was always going to be useful to him, and warn’t ever going to grow dim or doubtful.” Holistic scoring has been my cat-by-the-tail experience; I’ve learned things from reading thousands of studentContinue reading “Can We Teach Writing Formulas Rhetorically?”
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Scaffolding for Independence (and Avoiding Acronym Overload)
Scaffolds are temporary structures intended to support and extend learning and move novices toward mastery. Effective scaffolds don’t substitute a simpler task for a more complex one; they support students in developing the procedural and conceptual knowledge that enables them to grapple with complexity. Over-scaffolding, on the other hand, undermines students’ autonomy by telling studentsContinue reading “Scaffolding for Independence (and Avoiding Acronym Overload)”
Teaching for Change
By Jennifer Fletcher Teaching for transfer prepares students to be flexible thinkers who notice what’s going on around them, assess the current situation, and adjust and respond as needed. In 2020, the ground shifted under us. Economies were shuttered, schools closed, tests were suspended, jobs were lost or transformed, and the world turned upside down while millions of people lostContinue reading “Teaching for Change”
Rhetorical Thinking 