Two years ago, I detailed my daily English 9 class plans with the “What I’m Teaching This Week” blog series. As part of this year’s 20Time project, I updated those plans and added a month-at-a-glance version of the calendar, which I’m happy to share. Click here to grab a free PDF set of the English 9-10 […]
Today’s post starts in the kitchen. Like most normal people, I hate doing dishes. It’s gross and I’ve fought (and failed) for years to convince my husband and kids that their definition of “clean” is slacking…I mean, lacking. Hey, the job isn’t done until you’ve also wiped down the stove top, amIright? Continue reading
And…it’s done! The 20Time2018 project – a full-year curriculum for English 9-10 – is complete. As always, I made a video to show you what I did and what I learned Continue reading
(While I’m spending spring break finishing my 20Time2018 project, here’s an updated repost sharing ideas and tools to celebrate the upcoming National Poetry Month in April. Enjoy!)
Of course we should fold in some extra poetry lessons to celebrate April as National Poetry Month, but who has the time? With state testing and AP exam prep, this month is a bullet train, whipping by with scary speed. But what if we slowed that roll just a bit? April’s also supposed to signal warmth and new growth, the perfect time to dig some rhyme. I know we all have a lot to do, but here are a few easy options to help our English teacher tribe add more poetic voices to our curriculum. Continue reading
What if every teacher had the right tools to do this job?
What if we all had a hard drive full of current, relevant, rigorous lessons?
What if we were treated like professionals and not expected to dig into our own (meager) paychecks to supply those tools? Continue reading
A while back, I wrote the following post for the TeachersPayTeachers blog. I’m sharing it here, too, as a repost for new subscribers and anyone who may have missed it the first time around.
The month of March has been officially proclaimed Women’s History Month. While I appreciate the gesture, this declaration won’t have an impact on my classroom. Highlight women’s voices and achievements during the month of March? Nah. I’d rather do that all throughout the year. Continue reading
English teacher friend Sarah Oleyourryk just shared a fun lesson to reinforce figurative language. This week, she showed the YouTube video below to her kids, pausing on each of the red question slides. “We went through it once with them singing and guessing,” she said. “Then I went through it a second time…more singing…and I gave answers and explanations. All told, it took about 40 minutes. The kids LOVED it!!!”
Continue reading
