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Practical, self-paced professional development and college credit
for secondary ELA and general education teachers
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Dec 43 min read
A Spatial Approach to Literary Analysis: 6 Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers help students that think logically like scientists and mathematicians.
145 views
Apr 192 min read
Close Reading Passages in Novels
There’s nothing like close reading. A bunch of colorful annotations on a poem is a beautiful thing. Close reading is a valuable skill and
220 views
Jan 102 min read
Creating Relevance in a Modern Classroom
Sometimes I find myself trying to think of ways to create connections between literature and the real world.
215 views
Dec 21, 20233 min read
5 Fun Ways Students Find Quotes
Teaching students the value of using quotes in an essay is more important now than ever ...
344 views
Jun 13, 20232 min read
Free Literacy Block Reflection
The end of the school year is the best time to get ideas for next year. All the successful and failed experiments are still fresh in my...
207 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.
1,203 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 ...
564 views
Feb 17, 20224 min read
Whole-Novel Activities
Early in my career, I remember rolling through a novel chapter by chapter with PowerPoint slides and handouts. It always drove me crazy ...
1,361 views
Jan 10, 20223 min read
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
156 views
Nov 15, 20213 min read
Hourglass Unit Planning: From Large to Small to Large
Every time I sit down to plan a unit, I think about how I can move inward, into the mind of the protagonist. I want to go from the external
272 views
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