Comments for Jan L. Coates - "What If...?"

Comment on Jan Coates – “What If…?” by janlcoates

janlcoates — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:59:36 +0000

Funny! There’s an American author named Jan Coates, so I use the “L” in my name to prevent confusion. Have a happy day!

Comment on Jan Coates – “What If…?” by Jan Coates

Jan Coates — Sun, 13 May 2012 23:10:58 +0000

had to write you i seen your name on facebook and had a chuckle my name is Jan L Coates as well. I live in lake Echo Nova Scotia quite a coincendence for sure

Comment on School Visits – L. E. Shaw, Glooscap, Rawdon Elementary Schools by Darlene

Darlene — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:44:52 +0000

Visiting the schools is so much fun. I love how you talked about the harsh realities of war and that it is not fun for anyone. Kids in priviledged countries have no idea and think it is all a game (like the terrible video games)

Comment on Book or Movie? The Hunger Games by janlcoates

janlcoates — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:55:37 +0000

Almost finished Book 2 – she’s so good at writing suspense, with crisp endings to every chapter. I found out she had written for kids’ TV before taking up books, and she also has an earlier five-book series, that sounds like fantasy as well. I bet she never dreamed of such success and fame when she started out!

Comment on Book or Movie? The Hunger Games by lifeandallthingslove

lifeandallthingslove — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:23:19 +0000

I agree. I did not love the movie like I loved the book. I also, agree with you on the second book being a bit redundant but you will find it serves a purpose. I love the very ending of the series, so I hope by the time they get to third movie it will be phenomenal and do the books justice!

Comment on Back to the Basics by Laura Best

Laura Best — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:30:02 +0000

I Jan. I tagged you in a lucky 7 meme. Come on over if you want to play along.

Comment on Back to the Basics by janlcoates

janlcoates — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:57:20 +0000

Thanks, Janet. Interesting to read your dual-country perspective. Shannon actually interviewed a teacher we both know (:)) yesterday for a journalism article she’s writing, and, as a 19-year-old, was amazed by the education gobbledy-gook contained in the “outcomes” (especially for lower elementary grades). I guess my criticism was mainly directed toward consultants at the Board level, and the Department of Education level, of which there are too many, sucking up the education dollars and making work for teachers to justify their existence. In my humble opinion, of course…Sad to hear of the situation for teachers in the US.

Comment on Back to the Basics by Janet Duncan

Janet Duncan — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:52:38 +0000

It is a dilemma Jan, and hard to strike a balance between teachers being creative with their professional expertise, “new” pedagogical strategies, and a desire for the basics to be taught once again. In the U.S. we have just begun to emerge from a devastating decade of the “back to basics” movement with No Child Left Behind. This effort to teach just the basics has brought the teaching profession to the brink. Teachers are routinely bashed in the media for their lackluster test scores (all classes, communities, and children are the same) and now we have performance-based scores for teachers based on suspect “data”. All of this is well documented on gothamschools. Even the ultra conservative education historian Diane Ravitch has reversed her course on NCLB.

The real problem as I see it is that teachers are not permitted to be creative enough–teaching critical thinking. We do not know what the state of our technology will be in 10 years, so I would argue that kids need to know how to think logically, critically, creatively, and have the basic skills to read, write, and cipher.
Luckily in Canada being a teacher still means something. Teachers are well paid and generally respected, both of which are not true in the U.S., sadly.

Comment on Rejection, Rhyming and Dr. Seuss by Lynn A. Davidson

Lynn A. Davidson — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:33:14 +0000

Okay, not everyone wants to do these.

Comment on Rejection, Rhyming and Dr. Seuss by janlcoates

janlcoates — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:21:12 +0000

Thanks, Lynn. I don’t actually follow many people’s blogs, so don’t really feel like I can think of 10 to give the Sunshine Award to – especially since Laura and Darlene are two of the few blogs I do follow… Thanks, though! And thanks for reading:)