In my first few years of teaching, I didn’t want to use my sick days. If I woke with a fever, I foolishly believed it was more trouble to pull the day’s sub materials together than to just drive to school and face the day. In the spring of my first year, a ruptured ear drum didn’t even keep me from school. It wasn’t until an allergic reaction to the antibiotic launched an angry, blotchy rash all over my body – and, like an idiot, I still came to work – that the principal’s secretary took one look at me, shook her head, and sent me home. Continue reading
Note: This is an updated repost featuring some of my favorite end-of-October lesson ideas.
In 7th grade, my friend Sarah plugged her older brother’s copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street into the VCR at a sleepover and I haven’t been okay since. Scary movies? Nope. No, thank you. I’m such a chicken, I shut my eyes during commercials for horror flicks. I mean, you heard the new Halloween movie opens this weekend, right? Count me o-u-t.
Books, though, are different. Somehow, the images in my mind aren’t as gory as those on the screen and good short stories don’t rely on cheap jump-scares; instead, there are heavy things to actually think about and I suppose that’s my favorite kind of terrifying. Continue reading
I’ve started reading again. After a moment of unpleasant reflection when I publicly admitted I’m an English teacher who doesn’t actually read much, I decided to make a change. The uncomfortable truth is that we give our time to the things that matter most to us. Reading and thinking about books? Yup, that matters to me. Instagram […]
Note: This is an updated repost featuring some of my favorite end-of-the-year lesson ideas.
You’ve wrapped your last major unit and final exams are still a week away. You could spend five days playing Review Jeopardy (uh…no, thanks) or you could grab some of these tried-and-true resources that’ll keep kids focused until finals. Continue reading
It’s late April. State testing is done (whew!), upperclassmen are ramping up for A.P. tests, and everyone’s just wrung out. How about we take a bit of time on an upcoming Friday and destress with this free poetry/coloring activity that’ll make all those hard-working moms out there feel good? Click the image to grab a […]
If you caught last night’s Golden Globes, you were treated to this heartstopper of a speech by Oprah Winfrey. If not, watch it now. I’ll wait. Continue reading
We went to the corn maze this weekend and an actor (I hope) chased my family with a chainsaw. On Saturday, I was shopping at the farmers’ market when a college kid in zombie makeup jump-scared the crap out of me. And hubs and I just decided on our front porch Halloween night decor – a single red balloon should get the job done.
In the spirit of this pre-Halloween scarefest, here are my 10 favorite lessons to bring The Creepy into our classrooms: Continue reading
