Mini Writing Conferences: 4 Stages of Feedback
My students write most of their essays by hand in class. There are a lot of reasons for that, but at this point in the year ...
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- Mar 9
- 2 min
What is a Teachable Moment?
Last Sunday night, I watched a prerecorded episode of 60 Minutes, “Canada’s Unmarked Graves, Sharswood”. The Sharswood story described...
168
- Feb 23
- 3 min
5 Ways to Introduce a Novel
Some books, maybe most, don’t require much introduction. Novels, to some extent, exist in their own world.
152
- Feb 16
- 2 min
Short Story Adaptations
Creating a short film used to be a long and difficult process, so I gave up on it. But then it became much easier to shoot and edit video.
182
- Jan 24
- 3 min
The Best Engagement Strategy: Scaffolding and Guided Notes
It feels like it’s getting harder and harder to keep the attention of our students. Every teacher knows that if a student doesn’t use ...
190
- Jan 11
- 3 min
Teaching Media Literacy With Short Stories
It’s not easy to find literature that gets students to talk about the world they live in. It can be done with any novel ...
132
- Dec 21, 2022
- 3 min
Man vs. Machine: AI and ELA
AI is all the buzz lately. No need to teach writing anymore, a computer can do it...
371
- Dec 6, 2022
- 2 min
7 Ways to Make Learning Personal
It’s difficult to find a book that every child will love. They like contemporary stories that seem similar to their own ...
159
- Nov 22, 2022
- 2 min
Learning and Exercise: A Conversation with ActivEd Founder Dr. Julian Reed
Every teacher is familiar with the kind of student who struggles to pay attention for a long period of time...
152
- Nov 17, 2022
- 2 min
How to Avoid Teacher Burnout: 3 Solutions
For me, stress always hits at the end of a marking period. I suddenly realize how much I need to grade . . .
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- Oct 28, 2022
- 3 min
Extracurriculars and the Work-Life Balance
When I look back on my teaching career, some of my favorite moments actually happened outside the classroom. For some reason ...
1,034
- Oct 17, 2022
- 4 min
Creative Writing: The Be-All and End-All
I used to get moans when I asked students to write a poem. But in the last few years ...
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- Oct 5, 2022
- 3 min
How to Close Read Poetry or Prose: 5 Steps
Close reading may be the most important skill taught in an English class. It’s the heart and soul of what we do: uncover the world ...
544
- Sep 27, 2022
- 3 min
Academic Success Explained in 7 Steps
It’s becoming more and more common for students to think that they shouldn’t have to work for an answer or a solution to a problem...
361
- Sep 15, 2022
- 2 min
How to Teach Literary Techniques
Literary techniques make literature, literature. Without them, we’d be left with words and facts...
322
- Sep 9, 2022
- 2 min
8 Video Poems to Watch in Class: Performance and Poetry Film
Most students treat poetry like a highly academic art form meant for scholars. Most people feel the same way about visual art ...
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- Aug 29, 2022
- 4 min
How to Inspire Students to Love Reading: The Joy of Reading
The biggest challenge ELA teachers face year to year is how to get to students to not only read the novels we assign ...
714
- Aug 12, 2022
- 2 min
5 Poems to Start the Year
I love to start the year with a month of poetry. The unit gives students the time to read the first novel independently and it functions ..
1,104
- Jul 29, 2022
- 3 min
Great Books to Teach in High School
Picking a novel to teach is never easy. Teachers must teach what’s board approved, what’s in the curriculum. There’s always the issue of h
681
- Jul 17, 2022
- 5 min
How to Avoid Plagiarism and Cheating: 7 Tricks
When students plagiarize, teachers get upset for a number of different reasons. First and foremost, it’s dishonest. It feels personal,...
379
- Jul 8, 2022
- 5 min
Classroom Routines: 5 Simple Hacks
There’s no feeling quite like when you discover a small classroom routine that makes your life easier.
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- Jun 16, 2022
- 2 min
Free Literacy Blocks
I’ve been thinking a lot about all the challenges of this past year, but also trying to learn from it. I tried book clubs for the first time
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- Jun 1, 2022
- 2 min
The Creative Classroom
I start the school year talking about how language is all around us.
367
- May 26, 2022
- 2 min
The Hope Project
This year, I designed the Hope Project for my seniors. It ends with a video essay, and I completed the assignment myself. In the video,...
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