Active Voice vs. Passive Voice Which is Best

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice Which is Best Active Voice vs. Passive Voice: Which is Best? You may have heard the terms â€Å"active voice† and â€Å"passive voice† before, but many people struggle with what they mean. More importantly, many are also unsure about when to use these grammatical voices in academic writing. However, since sorting out tricky grammar problems is what we do best, we’ve decided to set things straight with this (fairly) easy-to-follow explanation. Transitive Verbs We’ll start out with explaining what a transitive verb is, as these are the only verbs that can be used with the passive voice. Put simply, a transitive verb is one that takes an object. A sentence with a transitive verb typically takes the form of subject + verb + object: Subject Verb Object Keith†¦ †¦plays†¦ †¦the guitar. Here, â€Å"Keith† is the subject (i.e., the person acting), â€Å"plays† is the verb (i.e., the action being carried out) and â€Å"guitar† is the object (i.e., the thing Keith is playing). Some say he has been playing since the beginning of time. Active and Passive Sentences â€Å"Keith plays the guitar† is an active sentence, since it foregrounds the person performing the action. Most of the sentences we use in daily life are similarly constructed. The active voice is therefore useful when you want to emphasize the person (or thing) carrying out the action in a sentence. To make a passive sentence, we make the object the subject of the sentence instead, with the person performing the action identified by a prepositional phrase at the end: Subject Verb Prepositional Phrase The guitar†¦ †¦was played†¦ †¦by Keith. The passive voice even allows us to omit the subject of a sentence altogether, if required: Object Verb The guitar†¦ †¦was played. But who played this guitar? A passive sentence leaves the question unanswered. This is useful if you’re trying to create suspense by withholding information or distance yourself from your actions (such as when politicians say â€Å"Mistakes were made.†) Relations with that woman were not had. Active Voice or Passive Voice? So, which is best? The short answer is neither: Both active and passive voice sentences have a role to play in formal writing. The key is knowing when to use them. Some people discourage use of the active voice in academic writing since it sometimes involves using the first person (e.g., â€Å"I† or â€Å"we†), which can draw focus away from the subject matter. Using the passive voice can therefore give your work a more objective tone. If you were describing an experiment, for instance, you could use the active voice to say: Active Voice: I compared the results with those from a control group. However, you could also remove the â€Å"I† from this sentence by using the passive voice: Passive Voice: The results were compared to those from the control group. The second option here is usually better in an academic context. On other occasions, the active voice is better, since it’s typically clearer and more concise. It’s also worth noting that the passive voice isn’t the only way to eliminate the first person from your work. The following active, first-person sentence, for example: Active Voice: I conclude that the findings contradict the initial hypothesis. Could be changed to the passive voice to remove reference to the subject: Passive Voice: The initial hypothesis is contradicted by the findings. But you could achieve the same results by simply using â€Å"the findings† as the subject of an active sentence: Active Voice: The findings contradict the initial hypotheses. This preserves the objectivity of a passive sentence, but avoids the complicated sentence constructions that may result from using the passive voice too often.

The 49 Techniques from Teach Like a Champion

The 49 Techniques from Teach Like a Champion The 49 Techniques first came to our attention in a March 7, 2010 article in the New York Times Magazine entitled Can Good Teaching Be Learned? The story focused on the book Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. Having taught with mixed success in inner-city Philadelphia, some of us recognized the efficacy of the techniques, even in tough to handle classrooms. This article brings links to some of the blogs we found useful regarding this topic. Setting High Academic Expectations Technique One: No Opt Out. Teachers with high expectations dont accept I dont know, but expect students to be engaged and give it a shot.Technique Two: Right is Right. This technique accepts no half-answers but asks for complete and correct answers to questions.Technique Three: Stretch It. This technique pushes a teacher to take correct answers and ask students to add depth or nuance to their answers.Technique Four: Format Matters. High expectations also means only accepting students answers in complete sentence with good grammar.Technique Five: No Apologies. Teachers with high expectations dont apologize for what they teach. No more Sorry I have to teach you Shakespeare.Technique 39: Do It Again. Repetition is one way to be sure that students understand what you expect and that it is done to your standards. Planning that Ensures Academic Achievement Technique Six: Begin with the End. This planning technique focuses on the outcome instead of what you want to do during the period.Technique Seven: The Four Ms. The four ms of planning are:ManageableMeasureableMade FirstMost Important.Technique Eight: Post It. Be sure your students know your objective for the day by posting it on the board.Technique Nine: The Shortest Path. Although teachers are often enamored with clever approaches, Lemov asserts that the shortest path to the objective is the most effective.Technique 10: Double Plan. Double planning involves planning not only what you will do, but also what the students will do during a lesson.Technique 11: Draw the Map. Drawing the map is controlling the environment by wisely grouping students through the seating chart. Structuring and Delivering Your Lessons Technique 12: The Hook. Introducing the lesson with a hook, an activity or item that grabs the attention of your students will help enhance your lesson.Technique 13: Name the steps. Great coaches, like great teachers, break down the tasks into steps.Technique 14: Board Paper. This technique means that students put everything you put on the board on their paper.Technique 15: Circulate. Keep moving! Drawing the map suggests making room between the desks so the teacher moves unhindered.Technique 16: Break it Down. Breaking it down requires the teacher to use the wrong answers and help students discover the correct number.Technique 17: Ratio Part One. This is a complex idea and requires two parts! It involves increasing student participation and limiting teacher talk.Technique 17: Ratio Part Two. More strategies for increasing the time students are involved in discussion.Technique 18: Check for Understanding. This is an on your feet method of data collection, sort of a formative assessm ent on the run. Technique 19: At Bats. Baseball coaches know that the best way to increase effectiveness is to increase the number of times they are at bat.Technique 20: Exit Ticket. An exit ticket is a quick formative assessment of the lesson your students just finished.Technique 21: Take a Stand. This technique encourages students to have opinions and to take stands on those opinions. Engaging Students in your Lesson Technique 22: Cold Calls. Like the sales technique, the teacher asks someone who is unsuspecting for an answer. It avoids opting out, and keeps all your students on their toes.Technique 23: Call and Response. This technique uses a tradition from African American hymnody and creates a way that the whole class can participate in questioningTechnique 24: Pepper. Like a coach lobbing balls to his fielders, a teacher can pepper his or her students with fast-paced questions, which makes it fun and keeps students on their toes.Technique 25: Wait Time. Teachers are too often too impatient, and provide an answer to their own question when no student pops a hand up. On the other hand, teachers also dont give students time to shape a complete, thoughtful response to a question.Technique 26: Everybody Writes. What goes on the board needs to go in the notebooks.Technique 27: Vegas. Nothing like a little glitz to liven up classroom instruction! Creating a Strong Classroom Culture Technique 28: Entry Routine. Having a structured entry routine expedites the beginning of instruction.Technique 29: Do Now. Familiar to elementary teachers and devotees of Harry Wong as bell work, Do Nows are brief academic tasks to review the previous days work or to introduce the days new work.Technique 30: Tight Transitions. Transitions need to be scripted and rehearsed, so little time is wasted between instructional activities.Technique 32: SLANT. SLANT is an acronym for what excellent attention behavior looks like.Technique 33: On Your Mark. Coaches expect athletes to be ready to engage in their sport. In the same way, a teacher shows students what they need to be on their mark.Technique 34: Seat Signals. Simple hand signals simplify requesting routine interruptions, such as using a bathroom or getting a pencil, can eliminate some of the waste of time that plague instruction.Technique 35: Props. In Teach Like a Champion, parlance, props are fun routines the class does together t o support the success of their peers. Building and Maintaining High Behavioral Expectations Technique 36: 100 Percent. Champion teachers dont create unreasonable behavioral expectations, because their final expectation is that everyone conforms all (100%) of the time.Technique 37: What to Do. Be sure, if you are asking for compliance, that you have been very explicit in explaining what it is you want your students To Do.Technique 38: Strong Voice Part One and Part Two. This technique, strong voice, is one that separates the really effective teacher from the adequate. Its in two parts so you understand its use and how to acquire it. The Blogs below continue the chapter Setting and Maintaining High Behavioral Expectations. Technique 39: Do It Again. This technique is perhaps the only negative consequence that truly works. When students fail to meet your standards, you ask them to Do it again. They model the appropriate behavior but are eager not to have to do it again.Technique 40: Sweat the Details. Building on the broken window theory of policing, Lemov notes that maintaining high standards will have positive effects across the classroom environment.Technique 41: Threshold. This threshold is the one at the door. By meeting and greeting students as they enter you can set the tone for your class.Technique 42: No Warnings. Responding early and proportionately can help you avoid real crises. So rather than giving warning, you mete out consequences when the behavior is still only a minor problem. Building Character and Trust Technique 43 Part 1: Positive Framing. Positive Framing means casting things in a way that is positive and leads to appropriate behavior. This blog starts with three strategies to help you frame it positively.Technique 43 Part 2. Three more strategies for framing classroom experiences positively.Technique 44: Precise Praise. Rather than cheap praise, precise praise is valued by students because it describes what it is you are pleased with.Technique 45: Warm and Strict. It may seem that warm and strict are contradictory, but effective teachers can be both at the same time.Technique 46: The J Factor. The J in J factor stands for Joy. This technique offers ideas to help your students experience the Joy!Technique 47: Emotional Constancy. An effective teacher keeps his or her emotions in check and doesnt make it all about him or herself. Make your good moods about good performance, not about pleasing you.Technique 48: Explain Everything. Be sure your students understand why you do what yo u do, as the why is an important part of instruction. Technique 49: Normalize Error. If students understand that errors are not the end of the world but an opportunity to learn, they will be more willing to take risks and more likely to learn. Teach Like a Champion is an excellent resource for teaching, especially for middle school and high school students. Besides the 49 techniques, it includes recommendations for improving instructional delivery. The book also includes video demonstrations of the techniques which make it well worth investing in the book.