21st Century Skillz

My MAT classes emphasize 21st century skills, by which the professors often seem to mean using computers and/or the Internet. But my non-MAT classes (linguistics and film studies) focus on traditional texts. I guess you could call these classes old-fashioned. But I find myself thinking more critically about, engaging more rigorously with, and feeling more challenged by the materials in those classes.

Having "The Talk"

Yesterday, my methods class talked about how to teach difficult texts to students. It really got me thinking about how many potential landmines there are in an English classroom. Students are old enough to engage with challenging material - everything from bad language and drugs to rape and racism - but they are not all at the same maturity level. They also have different life experiences, so what might be acceptable for one student might feel very upsetting for others.