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for secondary ELA and general education teachers
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How to Use Music in an ELA Classroom
Music might be the easiest way to get students to appreciate literature. The voice of the singer often makes it easy to understand the...
May 93 min read
105 views

The Creative Nonfiction Essay
Literary analysis can be a fun way students learn how to interpret quotes and identify patterns in writing. However, most students prefer
Apr 22 min read
129 views

How Teachers Can Stay Focused and Avoid Taking Work Home
Teachers already have a stressful job while in school. They shouldn’t also bring that stress home and let it continue on their time off.
Mar 213 min read
118 views


How to Create a Positive Classroom Culture and Environment: 5 Methods
It can be difficult for a teacher to build relationships with students because, well, we’re older. We don’t live in their world, but we...
Mar 122 min read
62 views


Stories About Modern Media
If we are being honest, most students interact more with modern media than with literature.
Feb 132 min read
88 views


How to Use Freud and Psychoanalysis to Teach Literature
Freud had a lot of wild theories, but a simple understanding of the short essay “The Structure of the Unconscious” can help students easily
Jan 312 min read
85 views


A Spatial Approach to Literary Analysis: 6 Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers help students that think logically like scientists and mathematicians.
Dec 4, 20243 min read
255 views


How to Teach Shakespeare
Students find Shakespeare challenging for several reasons. It is possible to help students peel back the layers of complexity, but it’s...
Nov 18, 20243 min read
225 views


Reading Blocks for Secondary ELA
I recently encountered an article in the Atlantic titled “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books.” It scared me a little ...
Oct 19, 20243 min read
130 views


Kids, Phones, and Class Participation
At the beginning of every school year, I quickly talk about grades. Since writing counts weighs the most, the class participation grade is
Sep 27, 20242 min read
135 views


The Best Contemporary Novels to Teach in High School
I have a love for most the literature I read in high school and college. I’m sure you’re familiar with the writers ...
Aug 23, 20244 min read
690 views


How to Decorate and Organize a Classroom
It can be hard to decorate a classroom if you have to share space with a few other teachers or pay out of pocket for supplies.
Aug 1, 20244 min read
255 views


3 Types of Interviews and Conversations in ELA
One of the most rewarding things about being a teacher is watching my students continue the conversation as they leave the classroom.
Jul 22, 20242 min read
177 views


Meaning-Making in ELA: 3 Ways to Get Students Invested
A classroom can be two places at the same time: a place to work hard and learn valuable skills and a place to have fun and make meaning from
Jul 18, 20242 min read
223 views


Teaching the Podcast Serial, Season 1, Episode 1 with Sarah Koenig
I’m always surprised when my students give their full attention to an hour-long podcast. What keeps kids locked into Serial is not ...
May 10, 20242 min read
358 views


How to Teach or Assign a Podcast
Podcasts promote a very simple, yet important life skill: listening. They also help students understand tone, the emotion behind the ...
May 3, 20242 min read
154 views


Close Reading Passages in Novels
There’s nothing like close reading. A bunch of colorful annotations on a poem is a beautiful thing. Close reading is a valuable skill and
Apr 19, 20242 min read
236 views


6 Engaging Activities to Analyze a Novel in ELA
Every day I think about how to keep students engaged when studying novels. Students will lose interest if they do the same thing every...
Feb 29, 20243 min read
477 views


Preventing the Use of AI in ELA: 6 Methods
There will always be new tools to help teachers combat the use of AI. A Chrome extension called Origin by GPTZero provides a writing ...
Feb 9, 20243 min read
358 views


Media and Genre-Based Units
Schools and teachers usually organize ELA curriculum by novel, theme, or genre, or some combination of those three.
Jan 23, 20243 min read
296 views


Creating Relevance in a Modern Classroom
Sometimes I find myself trying to think of ways to create connections between literature and the real world.
Jan 10, 20242 min read
219 views


5 Fun Ways Students Find Quotes
Teaching students the value of using quotes in an essay is more important now than ever ...
Dec 21, 20233 min read
372 views


Meaningful Project-Based Learning for High School English: 5 Objectives
I recently opened enrollment for a new online course, Meaningful Project-Based Learning for High School English. Enrollment closes Friday
Dec 12, 20232 min read
520 views


5 Ways to Handle the ELA Workload
There’s no doubt that English teachers have to manage a ton of work. Students have to practice writing frequently and gather as many quotes
Nov 29, 20232 min read
366 views


Character Study: A Whole-Novel Activity
Students love to think about how a character develops because they too, because they’re teenagers, experience a lot of change.
Nov 17, 20232 min read
188 views


10 Whole Class Discussion Strategies
With every passing year, it seems harder and harder to get students interested in whole class discussions. But there are creative ways ...
Nov 1, 20233 min read
407 views


The Purpose of Literary Devices and Techniques
It’s easy for students to get caught in the trap of simply identifying literary techniques without considering their purpose ...
Oct 17, 20232 min read
655 views


Storytelling and the Personal Narrative
Because I teach seniors, I start the year with a short unit on the personal narrative and college essay. It helps me get to know ...
Sep 12, 20233 min read
202 views


More Fun, Less Stress
July has come to an end and it’s that time when the thought of school starts to plan its seed in every teacher’s mind. What will this year
Aug 2, 20232 min read
148 views


Modern Learning with Free Literacy Blocks
There are many students that love literature for the world it creates, the brand-new world that exists only within the front and back cover
Jul 18, 20232 min read
154 views


Free Literacy Block Reflection
The end of the school year is the best time to get ideas for next year. All the successful and failed experiments are still fresh in my...
Jun 13, 20232 min read
208 views


Graduation Video Essay
Every year, I like to complete the final assignment I give to my seniors. I ask them to create a video essay that responds to the...
May 30, 20233 min read
762 views


Literary Podcast Unit and Podcast Project
It’s fun to end the year with a project that students will remember. Instead of a traditional final, there are a lot of ways ...
May 5, 20232 min read
474 views


The Personal, Philosophical, and Political Response to Literature
It’s spring, which means it’s time to get creative. At this point in the year, students should be close to meeting our expectations ...
Apr 26, 20232 min read
90 views


The Basics of Film Interpretation
Teachers want their students to be readers, and not just readers of words. We want them to read the world around them: the streets ...
Apr 14, 20233 min read
532 views


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 ...
Mar 24, 20233 min read
240 views


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...
Mar 9, 20232 min read
400 views


5 Ways to Introduce a Novel
Some books, maybe most, don’t require much introduction. Novels, to some extent, exist in their own world.
Feb 23, 20233 min read
1,400 views


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.
Feb 16, 20232 min read
292 views


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 ...
Jan 24, 20233 min read
664 views


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 ...
Jan 11, 20233 min read
169 views


Man vs. Machine: AI and ELA
AI is all the buzz lately. No need to teach writing anymore, a computer can do it...
Dec 21, 20223 min read
420 views


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 ...
Dec 6, 20222 min read
177 views


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...
Nov 22, 20222 min read
210 views


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 . . .
Nov 17, 20222 min read
1,906 views


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 ...
Oct 28, 20223 min read
1,040 views


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 ...
Oct 17, 20224 min read
934 views


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 ...
Oct 5, 20223 min read
1,038 views
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