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Considerable research (K. Anders Ericsson) in expert performance in sports, arts, and the sciences has concluded that notable achievement occurs not because of innate characteristics but because of “deliberate practice.” The coaching principle of “deliberate practice” should guide the instructional choices we make as English teachers: our students receive immediate teacher feedback; they repeatedly perform the same or similar tasks; they master complex skills when in shorter sequences.
Spend three days with Dr. Degen in his classroom at Jesuit College Preparatory School as he applies these coaching principles. You'll walk through his best lessons plans for helping students develop an analytical voice, using grammar to build sophisticated syntax, and showing students how to write persuasive, energetic and coherent essays that receive the top scores on national exams. Lesson plans will model the use of Cloud technology and Google--forms, documents, and spreadsheets.
Day 1 establishing an interpretative point of view: reading strategies for developing the analytical voice
Day 2 forming with phrases, constructing with clauses: grammar instruction for enhancing syntax and style
Day 3 engineering the essay: navigating the paragraph and the strategies of coherence and unity; exploring the use of Aristotle's topics of invention
Michael Degen, Ph.D. has been teaching AP Literature, AP Lang, Pre-AP English, and English III for over twenty-five years. He has presented workshops for numerous school districts throughout Texas and across the Southwest, for the College Board, and for national conventions.
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