lessons Archives - It's Lit Teaching

Life Tips for Teachers ► August 9, 2020

5 Preparations You Need to Teach Your New English Class

When I was a first-year high school English teacher, I had no idea where to even begin planning and getting ready for my first year. It probably took me a whole three years of teaching before I had a grasp on what essentials I needed to prep before the first day of class. With another year about to begin, I thought I’d share what I’d learned the hard way. In this blog post, I’ll share the 5 things you need to prepare to teach your new English class!

Literature ► April 7, 2019

Why I Love Teaching Young Adult Literature

I started my journey to add young adult literature to my classroom when I finally ran out of patience for our outdated African American unit. The updates went so well, I’ve begun branching out into my other classes and units. I have found that young adult literature is especially great for engaging my at-risk students. Better yet though, it’s engaging for me. When I’m teaching more contemporary novels, I’m more thoughtful and engaged in my teaching.

Pedagogy and Teaching Strategies ► November 12, 2018

Increase Student Engagement with Authentic Assessments

I know I am not alone in the engagement challenge. In a world where my students can stream fist fights or stand-up comedians, how do we get them to care about what's going on in our little classrooms?

Creative Writing ► October 28, 2018

Scaffolding Creative Writing: Everything You Need to Know

In a creative writing class, however, where rules are meant to be broken, creativity is unrestrained, and student skill levels vary wildly, providing that scaffolding can be a challenge. How, then, do you guide students and provide support without limiting their creativity?

Life Tips for Teachers ► June 13, 2018

First Year Teaching: It Gets Better

Every lesson I learned that year was learned the hard way. I was at school late at night, until the custodian came in asking why I was still there. In the parking lot, I would sit in my car, willing myself to walk inside and not cry.

Literature ► March 27, 2018

How To Implement a New Novel in Your Classroom

You guys, I have never been so fired up to teach anything in my life.