Danny's Spreadsheet

As a teacher one of the most difficult decisions  is determining the best way to format lesson plans.  Sometimes principals will want one thing, and you as a teacher want another.  Most teachers want their content to be organized, elegant, and easily accessible; but usually the easiest thing to do is to jot down notes in a word processor. Don’t even mention the hassle of documenting all of the standards, learning results, and educational targets that school districts the world over are so fond of heaping upon teachers.

Excel guru,  math teacher extraordinaire, and NICS missionary Danny Whittaker has created a MS Excel template to help even the most disorganized planners organize their course content.  He’s incorporated buttons and macros into the template so adding classes and new days is nearly seamless process. He’s a former colleague of mine, and he’s gladly given me permission to distribute the form on my site.

During setup, you will need to enter your classes and your school’s academic calendar.  If you had difficulty doing this, Mr. Whittaker has even included an e-mail address in the file and he’s more than willing to answer questions and offer limited support.

Download it here!

Danny Whittaker’s Lesson Plans 2009-10 Template (MS Excel 2007)

courses.cullenhartley.com

As an English teacher, I spend hours each month smacking my hand against my head as I see grammatical errors made in school publications and student work. Many of these errors are small and would be prevented with just a little more instruction or attention to detail.

Earlier this year, it was my privilege to attend a class conducted by Simon James Sharp, a textbook editor for Macmillan Publishing.  He claimed that professionals in the publishing industry face the same problems that English teachers face, inconsistent and erroneous writing.

Simon Sharp revealed that one small step publishers take to help this problem is to create an in-house editorial style guide. A style guide provides a quick reference for expectations concerning punctuation, grammar, and document formatting. Just as teachers might not comb through a grammar textbook each time they send parent correspondence, it is doubtful that professional authors and academics will look through a five-hundred page Chicago Manual of Style. However, both groups might look through a ten page quick reference sheet.

In order to help remedy the problem of erroneous writing in Christian schools, I’ve created a simple style guide that will help educators review stylistic expectations for professional writing.  Ideally, such a reference would be consulted when students complete work, teachers create assignments, and administrators send memos.  If the entire school is making a concerted effort to create consistent professional correspondence, it will inevitably filter down to increased student achievement in language arts.

Before going further, I should note what specifically makes this a Christian document. First, many of the rules contained in it are from the Grammar and Composition series, one of the most used textbook collections in Christian schools. Second, it contains sections on using spiritual language.

I’ve uploaded three versions of my hand-dandy little guide.I recommend downloading the PDF version unless you intend to make changes. Feel free to download the OpenOffice or Word formats and edit it before distributing it to your particular organization. It has a Creative Commons 3.0: Attribution, noncommercial, share-alike license; and I enjoy it when people use my material.

Style Guide for Christian Schools (PDF)

Style Guide for Christian Schools (OpenOffice Format)

Style Guide for Christian Schools (Office XP)

]]> http://www.cullenhartley.com/2009/06/style-guide-for-christian-schools/feed/ 0 http://www.cullenhartley.com/2009/03/easy-complement-finder/ http://www.cullenhartley.com/2009/03/easy-complement-finder/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:45:51 +0000 cullenhartley http://www.cullenhartley.com/?p=136

I created this Easy Complement Finder flowchart for students that have difficulty determing correct pronoun-antecedent agreement. It should also help students locate and use pronouns correctly when dealing with direct and indirect objects.  It is the first of several grammar resources that I intend to add to this site in the upcoming months.

It is available for download in both PDF and Word document formats. 

I’ve given this a Creative Commons License so feel free to remix, reuse, or send this to anyone that you wish.  The only thing that I ask is that you don’t remove the link to this website, place a traditional copyright on it, or sell it for profit.

Download

Easy Complement Finder – PDF Format

Easy Complement Finder – Word 2007 Format