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Practical, self-paced professional development and college credit
for secondary ELA and general education teachers
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Jul 222 min read
3 Types of Interviews and Conversations in ELA
One of the most rewarding things about being a teacher is watching my students continue the conversation as they leave the classroom.
172 views
Jul 182 min read
Meaning-Making in ELA: 3 Ways to Get Students Invested
A classroom can be two places at the same time: a place to work hard and learn valuable skills and a place to have fun and make meaning from
213 views
Jan 233 min read
Media and Genre-Based Units
Schools and teachers usually organize ELA curriculum by novel, theme, or genre, or some combination of those three.
260 views
Dec 12, 20232 min read
Meaningful Project-Based Learning for High School English: 5 Objectives
I recently opened enrollment for a new online course, Meaningful Project-Based Learning for High School English. Enrollment closes Friday
377 views
Aug 2, 20232 min read
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
140 views
Jul 18, 20232 min read
Modern Learning with Free Literacy Blocks
There are many students that love literature for the world it creates, the brand-new world that exists only within the front and back cover
154 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 16, 20232 min read
Short Story Adaptations
Creating a short film used to be a long and difficult process, so I gave up on it. But then it became much easier to shoot and edit video.
292 views
Dec 21, 20223 min read
Man vs. Machine: AI and ELA
AI is all the buzz lately. No need to teach writing anymore, a computer can do it...
415 views
Nov 17, 20222 min read
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 . . .
1,900 views
Oct 28, 20223 min read
Extracurriculars and the Work-Life Balance
When I look back on my teaching career, some of my favorite moments actually happened outside the classroom. For some reason ...
1,038 views
Jun 16, 20222 min read
Free Literacy Blocks
I’ve been thinking a lot about all the challenges of this past year, but also trying to learn from it. I tried book clubs for the first time
531 views
Jun 1, 20222 min read
The Creative Classroom
I start the school year talking about how language is all around us.
377 views
May 11, 20222 min read
History and Literature
It is the objective of many novels to bring history back to life. The history in textbooks focus on the powerful, the decision makers.
282 views
Apr 6, 20222 min read
Autonomous, Relevant Learning and Good Conversation
This week, I asked students to connect the literature we study in class to the modern world. We had amazing, open-ended conversations ...
563 views
Mar 2, 20222 min read
The Hope Project
I like to end every year with a project on a relevant topic and this year, or at least this spring, seems to be the spring of hope...
618 views
Feb 8, 20224 min read
4 Easy Ways to Talk About Race in School
Some of the most challenging questions I’ve faced in my career have to do with race and culture.
266 views
Jan 24, 20224 min read
Filmmaking Made Easy: 10 Tips
After I taught the elective Filmmaking for the first time a few years ago, I realized how easy it is for students to quickly create a ...
749 views
Aug 17, 20213 min read
5 Ways to Have a Drama-Filled Classroom
No, not that kind of drama. Performance. Few people know how to act, but everyone knows what a good performance looks like. The words...
188 views
Jul 11, 20213 min read
Displaying Student Work
A few years ago, I was the advisor for my school’s student-run art gallery. My district converted an old garage used for storage space ...
248 views
May 30, 20213 min read
Graduation 2021: Love and Stories
Every year, I complete the final assignment that I give my seniors. I ask them to talk about how it feels to graduate, what they've...
238 views
May 12, 20212 min read
A Fun Way to End This Year
We’re approaching the end of a wildly difficult year. We weren’t able to connect with our students like we normally would...
274 views
May 7, 20213 min read
Where to Find Real Stories on the Web
We’re finishing up a unit on Exit West by Mohsin Hamid this week so I’m asking my students to listen to a personal narrative of choice....
163 views
Apr 22, 20213 min read
Real World Interviews and Conversations
I start the school year with a conversation about the value of literature, so I like to end by giving my students the opportunity to bring w
210 views
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