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...
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Practical, self-paced professional development and college credit
for secondary ELA and general education teachers
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May 5, 20232 min read
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 ...
393 views
Apr 26, 20232 min read
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 ...
89 views
Apr 14, 20233 min read
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 ...
434 views
Mar 24, 20233 min read
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 ...
229 views
Mar 9, 20232 min read
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...
337 views
Feb 23, 20233 min read
5 Ways to Introduce a Novel
Some books, maybe most, don’t require much introduction. Novels, to some extent, exist in their own world.
1,189 views
Feb 16, 20232 min read
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.
292 views
Jan 24, 20233 min read
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 ...
538 views
Jan 11, 20233 min read
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 ...
154 views
Dec 21, 20223 min read
Man vs. Machine: AI and ELA
AI is all the buzz lately. No need to teach writing anymore, a computer can do it...
415 views
Dec 6, 20222 min read
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 ...
175 views
Nov 22, 20222 min read
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...
187 views
Nov 17, 20222 min read
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 . . .
1,899 views
Oct 28, 20223 min read
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 ...
1,038 views
Oct 17, 20224 min read
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 ...
932 views
Oct 5, 20223 min read
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 ...
909 views
Sep 27, 20223 min read
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...
367 views
Sep 15, 20222 min read
How to Teach Literary Techniques
Literary techniques make literature, literature. Without them, we’d be left with words and facts...
360 views
Sep 9, 20222 min read
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 ...
1,319 views
Aug 29, 20224 min read
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 ...
1,187 views
Aug 12, 20222 min read
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 ..
1,317 views
Jul 29, 20223 min read
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
716 views
Jul 17, 20225 min read
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,...
397 views
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