How to Teach When Students are Years Behind
The curriculum decrees an essay must be written, but your students can barely write a sentence. How can you teach when your students are years behind?
How to Design a Novel Unit that Doesn’t Bore your Students to Death: A Guest Blog Post From Yaddy’s Room
You have a boring novel unit, now what? Connect a movie to it! Luckily for you, I’m going to save you the blood sweat, and hangovers, and give you my process. I know. I’m awesome.
Is Dear Martin the Right Novel for Your Class?
When I read Dear Martin by Nic Stone, I knew it would be a fantastic whole class novel. In this post, I will help you determine if it’s right for your class, point out the perks of teaching it, and also hopefully help steer you away from some pitfalls.
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5 End-of-the-School-Year Tips to Make Back-to-School Teaching Easier
Do you want to walk into a disorganized mess in September when you’re stressing about new students and new units? Or do you want to walk into a beautiful space, perfectly organized for educational success? This blog post is going to cover a few end-of-the-school-year tips for closing out your classroom to make coming back to school easier.
Do It Scared and Start Selling on Teachers Pay Teachers: A Book Review for Teacherpreneurs
This book review is for teachers who want to become teacherpreneurs but just can’t get started. If that’s you, then go get Do It Scared by Ruth Soukup NOW.
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I started my journey to add young adult literature to my classroom when I finally ran out of patience for our outdated African American unit.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.
Help! My School Won’t Let Me Teach The Hate U Give!
Lately, I’ve been receiving e-mails and TPT questions like this: I really want to teach The Hate U Give. I know my students would love it. I know they NEED it! But I’m getting pushback from my principal/school/district. What do I do if my school won’t let me teach The Hate U Give?
Why You Should Teach A Creative Writing Class
My Creative Writing class has become my favorite class of the day--something that completely shocks me. Here is why you, too, should consider overcoming any fears or hesitance, and jump right in to teaching a creative writing class of your very own.
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?
How and Why to Use Scaffolding Worksheets in the Creative Writing Classroom
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?