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for secondary ELA and general education teachers
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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.Â
Mar 213 min read
103 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
363 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
405 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


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
634 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
209 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
1,905 views

Classroom Routines: 5 Simple Hacks
There’s no feeling quite like when you discover a small classroom routine that makes your life easier.
Jul 8, 20225 min read
914 views

New Year, New Habits: Reflecting on Reflecting
It’s a new year and this will be my 100th blog and podcast, so I’ve been thinking about reflection, the mental process of looking back and t
Jan 11, 20223 min read
156 views

What If We Treat Students Like Athletes?
What if we treated our students like we treat athletes? What if we taught like a coach at halftime? What if we could recreate the same...
Nov 11, 20213 min read
372 views

How Students Learn: 7 Engagement Techniques
When we ask our students to pay attention, we’re competing with five to ten second video clips on television and social media apps...
Oct 27, 20215 min read
780 views

5 Easy Ways to Motivate Students
Every fall my students seem a little sluggish from the summer. Over the course of a few weeks in September, I see their brains turn on,...
Oct 18, 20213 min read
340 views


5 Ways to Establish Great Relationships in Your Classroom
If you look back on being a student, I’m sure you remember not the specifics of what you learned, but your teachers, the people tasked with
Sep 2, 20214 min read
573 views


Symbolism Ice Breaker
We are all familiar with the first few days in our classroom. It’s a little tense because our students don’t know us ...
Aug 5, 20213 min read
819 views


The Keys to Organizing an ELA Classroom
A well-organized classroom reduces stress and helps everyone focus on what’s most important, the literature.
Jul 2, 20213 min read
598 views

The Path to Easy, Exciting, Excellent Teaching
My school year finished this week, and as I watched my seniors graduate, I felt like we all deserved something special for making it...
Jun 26, 20213 min read
93 views

New Year, New Ideas
It’s hard to imagine that anything positive will come out of this year, but I’ve been thinking about what, if any, lessons I’ve learned ...
May 25, 20213 min read
296 views

7 Methods to Finish the Year Strong
If you have been teaching remote or hybrid you know that students don’t turn in as much work as they usually do. You’re not alone ...
Apr 14, 20214 min read
334 views

Meaning-Making in the Secondary ELA Classroom
It’s easy to say to our students that literature should be meaningful. It’s easy to ask students … what does that line mean?
Mar 12, 20217 min read
212 views

Why Do You Want to Be a Teacher?
Introduction to Teaching the Magic of Literature: Using Imagination to Shape the Future It was one of the simplest, yet most complicated...
Feb 14, 20213 min read
289 views

What Makes a Superteacher?
This has been a challenging year for any teacher. Even during a regular year, teachers work hard to meet the many demands and...
Jan 19, 20214 min read
315 views

Teaching the Novel in a Remote or Hybrid Classroom
I’m trying to get as creative as possible when it comes to being flexible with students. After finishing a few units ...
Jan 11, 20213 min read
629 views

10 Creative Projects for Remote Learning
My colleagues and I recently had a conversation about the rest of the year and what we could do to keep our students engaged....
Dec 23, 20206 min read
226 views

50 Songs to Start Class
This year, the start of class is that awkward time when we’re saying hello and waiting for everyone to virtually trickle in. When...
Dec 11, 20203 min read
1,526 views
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