Author Archives: Dr. Ayers

Grade Error

Hey Folks, I’m not sure how or when it happened, but I noticed today that all the weights in the 3rd hour grade book had been deleted. This meant that for third hour students, all points were being treated as … Continue reading

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A Few Good Book Reviews

Here are the three book review essays I discussed in class this morning: Diane Ravitch, “Schools We Can Envy.” Hugh Eakin, “Will Saudi Arabia Ever Change?” Andrew Hacker, “How He Got It Right.” And here’s another interesting one: “Single Women … Continue reading

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The Battle Over Homework

Louis Menand, essayist and editor for The New Yorker, and author of the brilliant book The Metaphysical Club, reports that French president François Hollande intends to abolish homework in his country. He takes this opportunity to look at some research on whether … Continue reading

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Gallagher-Corvino Debate

Here is the BookTV debate on gay marriage that we watched in class. If you’re interested in learning more about either Maggie Gallagher or John Corvino, or about their book, or the issue overall, here are some additional links for … Continue reading

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Correlation and Causation

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Nonfiction Book Options

Okay… After much searching, right-clicking, and so forth, I’ve come up with some examples of the kinds of books we’re looking for. I’m short on time, so I’m just going to give you some links and let you browse. I’d … Continue reading

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A Grade Reminder

I’m still in the midst of grading revised essays. But now seems like a good time to remind you of Appendix A in the Handbook (follow the link at the top of this page). This chart provides a general rubric … Continue reading

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Reflective Essay

In lieu of a Final Portfolio this term, you are going to write a short, reflective essay in which you look back over the work of this term. Here are a couple of questions I want you to think about, in … Continue reading

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On the Relative Credibility of Fonts

Today in fourth hour I briefly discussed why you should consider your choice of font. Following up on that conversation, I thought I’d put up a couple of related links. Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris wrote a piece for his New … Continue reading

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ICYMI: This Week on Kennedy Blogs

In case you missed it, yesterday over at Kennedy Blogs I posted links to several posts by AP Lang students. More to come.

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