Learn from a veteran, NBCT English teacher how to grade less, not more so that you don’t become a workaholic zombie.
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Read my latest tips, tricks, and musings below.
32 Graphic Novels to Encourage Independent Reading
When students pick up their phones, they aren’t reading eBooks. They are checking Insta, scrolling Tik Toks, binging YouTube. They bombard themselves with visuals. They find themselves more comfortable with visual…
Fun Classroom Games for Building Relationships
It’s the beginning of the school year. You scan through the mental rolodex of ideas for getting to know your students (because, let’s face it, you’re getting older and you…
Exploring Figurative Language Examples in Popular Culture
I’m going to use a figurative language example here: 1000 times today my students have talked about Taylor Swift’s new album. Has it been 1000 times? Nah, but it feels…
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Using Rhetorical Devices to Write More Effectively
If you want to be a rhetorical devices finder, you might have plenty to look for here in this blog post. Indeed, you can find them in speeches, in literature,…
Common Lit Curriculum: An Honest Review
Visit veteran teachers at your school and ask to see their binders. We all have them: cabinet-filling, paper-holding, dust-accruing binders full of three-hole punched documents and resources from curricula gone…
Incorporating Media Analysis in English Language Arts Instruction
Let’s be honest here: You are probably reading this blog while streaming that Netflix show you love. Your attention is split, divided in two (but probably not equally). With your…
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How to Write a Descriptive Essay: Creating a Vivid Picture with Words
This blog is not a descriptive essay. There will be parts here and there that discuss descriptive essay format, address descriptive essay questions, and descriptive essay examples–but, again, this blog…
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The Power of Book Tasting in the Classroom
You’ve probably been in the staff or department meeting when the administrator in the room announces proudly (and unironically) that we have the “opportunity to do a book study this…
20 Short Stories Students Will Read Gladly
It seems like so many things are getting shorter these days: our weekends, our patience, and even our readings (beyond even the normal short stories that have consistently been part…
6 Fun Book Project Ideas
Ah, novel units and book projects are the bread and butter of English teacher life and planning. We want students to appreciate a good story arc, to see themselves in…
Tailoring Your English Curriculum to Diverse Learning Styles
I don’t know about you–though I suspect you’re like me since you are reading a blog right now–but I like reading to learn. My learning styles lean visual with a preference…
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Teacher Toolbox: Creative & Effective Measures of Academic Progress for the Classroom
There are always things we, as educators, look forward to every year: the first day of school, the last day of school, lunch on school improvement days, map testing. Wait,…
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Effective Teaching Resources & Strategies For English Teachers
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