These days every time you look at information about a film or book, you’ll be faced with the ubiquitous star rating system. And you will probably notice that most films and books don’t achieve 5 stars—even the books and films that you love.
What’s up with this?
Remember that rating systems are aggregations of user reviews and professional reviews. In other words, ratings are averages. And as we all know, averages … Read the rest!
You’ve probably heard this advice before. But do you understand it? As a teacher of literature, I find this a very important subject!
When you read text on a page or on a screen, your brain translates the marks into words. If you’re reading English, your brain translates familiar words directly into their meaning in your head. If it’s an unfamiliar word, or if you’re a slower … Read the rest!
If you haven’t yet read Suki’s Guide to Netiquette, please do before you read this!
OK, so here we are on the World Wide Web…and it’s Wonderful! You can learn things here. You can make friends. You can find people who enjoy the same weird hobby that you do. You can take classes in your pajamas, riding in your motor home, or with a python around your neck.
However, the Web also presents … Read the rest!
Do you know the story, “The Little Engine That Could”? In the story, a little steam engine has to perform what seems like an impossible job….and through positive thinking he succeeds.
Did you know that to a certain extent, this is actually real?
OK, right off the top I’m going to admit that you can’t become a superhero just by thinking you are a superhero. You can’t walk upside-down on the ceiling just … Read the rest!
You’re studying a new topic in math that you just don’t get.
You’re fighting with your sibling about every little thing.
You did something embarrassing in front of other kids.
No matter what your specific situation is, I bet you’ve had times when you hear bad thoughts in your head. And some of those times, you probably say things aloud:
“I’m so stupid!”
“He’s an idiot!”
“I hate them!”
“It’s not fair!”
All … Read the rest!
The weird thing about learning is that we all do it, but we hardly ever talk about how we do it. And when we do, it’s usually adults talking to adults.
But since kids, teens, and young adults are the ones who are expected to learn lots of material and get graded for it, it seems to me that you all should know some of this information, too!
It turns out that there’s no mystery in the best ways to … Read the rest!
I’ve searched high and low and in and out for a simple, straightforward page to share with my students. I didn’t find it, so here is my version!
If you are a “messy kid,” I bet you want to turn away from this RIGHT NOW.
But if you’re my student, I may have assigned you to read it, so don’t turn away.
If your parent wants you to read it, well, make them happy. It’s short.
Why not just be messy?
You already know the answer to this question. Messy people like their mess, true. But sometimes their mess keeps them from doing what they want to do.… Read the rest!
You’ve written something great. Or maybe you’ve written something that’s just good enough.
In any case, why rewrite or revise it?
What professional writers say
You might think that professional writers can just spit out good writing on the first try, the way a professional basketball player can make that ball swish through the hoop seemingly without effort.
This is actually not the case. What professional writers say is that the first draft is almost always just the germ of … Read the rest!
Journalism is a fancy word for good old news. People have needed news from the beginning of time. People have spread news in order to inform other people for as far back as humans remember.
How do we get news?
In very old times, people got their news from traveling bards who went from village to village. It could take months or years for news to reach the remotest places.
Once the printing press was invented, people got their news … Read the rest!