ABSPD is

Appalachian State Institutes

This week I am at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina at the Accelerating Learning in Writing Institute. A lot of things are changing with the new emphasis on writing in the common core standards. As far as introducing more writing in the classroom - this is a big plus for learning. There are a number of controversies over the curriculum and I am reserving judgment until I see how all this works with my foundational skills students.  I am not sure everyone wants to go  to college, and I do know I have a lot of students who are either retired and do not want a job, or have problems learning well enough to achieve what seems to be the new ideal. But that is a topic for another discussion.

I am still behind on technology, but have learned enough to use it to do this at least (blogging), and a few other teaching/learning programs.

Who I Am

My name is Wm. Peter MacMonagle and I am an instructor at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have been there fifteen years and still enjoy working there. I have great colleagues and students to work with. This has been a very productive position for me since I was able to earn my master's degree in TESOL - Teaching English as a Second and Other Language (2003) and my PhD. in Urban Education (2012) from  the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

I teach adults who need to improve their reading and math in order to earn a GED or their high school diploma.