The photo above shows the bottom line of one of my grading rubrics. I added this line for my students and for myself. For my students, I hope knowing about this line helps them pay more attention to not repeating past errors. Any person who can avoid making the same mistake more than once will…
Author: caritagardiner
42. Why I Don’t Eat Meat
Okay, anybody who’s been reading these posts for a while will notice that I’ve used this photo before. I’m sorry. I couldn’t face putting in a bloody meat photo. Yuck. I decided to go with what I do like, carbs. Photo aside, the first answer to this question people sometimes ask me is, I don’t…
41. Why Mark Essays with Numbers
I know that English teachers love words. I love words, but I also love numbers. I’m not talking about math (though I love math, too); I’m talking about the Conventions of Composition website that offers self-help for grammar. My primary goal in assigning students to write essays is to help them learn to write better….
40. Why I Got Duped
I’ve been debating writing this post, but Google Analytics (which I check daily) assures me that most days, nobody looks at my website. If past performance is an indicator of future results, maybe two people will read this post. Ever. All this to say, I’m thinking of my blog as a private journal, a safe…
39. Why Everything Should Sparkle
If you look straight at my eyes, you might have to shut your eyes because of the glare. If you look straight at my shoes, you’ll think I’m wearing a big version of shoes made for a three-year-old kid. I’m fine with both of these. In the past few years, I’ve embraced my love of…
38. Why to Consider Boarding School
I copied this photo from the Hotchkiss website. If you’re thinking thinking, “It can’t be that pretty at the school where she works,” you’d be wrong. It is this beautiful, except in the fall, when it’s even more beautiful as the leaves turn vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange. But the beauty of the…
37. Why I Like Rubrics
You may notice that I put a much larger photo on this week’s post than I usually do. (Of course, that assumes you’ve ever looked at the website before…which Google Analytics tell me you haven’t, but I’m an optimist, so I’m writing to thousands of future website visitors.) I enlarged the photo so that you…
36. Why I Remember
iconic image of the street in NYC Photo Credit I can’t write a post on September 11, 2019 that doesn’t harken to September 11, 2001. I wasn’t in NYC that day. Nobody in my family worked in the Towers or as police or firefighters in NYC. One could say that I wasn’t directly affected by…
35. Why I Eat Candy
CANDY HOUSES Some people make gingerbread houses for the festive holiday spirit. My younger daughter and I make them for the delicious candy. As you can see from the photo above, I really load on the candy and I eat the whole thing. I’m writing this post a week after I told you (Anybody out there…
34. Why I Exercise a Lot
I LIKE TO GET MY ENDORPHINS ON I was never the best athlete growing up, but I like the way it feels to stay active. I played on the basketball team in high school, swam for the team in college, and play defense on my old-lady team now. Additionally, I’ve completed a few sprint triathlons…