Distance Learning

The Power of Teaching Star-Crossed Love Stories

The Power of Teaching Star-Crossed Love Stories

Star-crossed love stories are a popular trope in literature and film. They often feature two people who are deeply in love, but their love is doomed by fate or circumstance. This can be due to their social status, their families, or even the stars themselves.

PowerPoint Party: A Fun Persuasion Game

PowerPoint Party:  A Fun Persuasion Game

In their pure sense, PowerPoint Parties started becoming popular due to COVID, and friends/ family members would get together (albeit virtually) to present a PowerPoint on a topic of interest. This eventually morphed into a fun game for high school and college-age students (is it ok for me to add “drinking game” in here?). Currently, PowerPoint Parties have become popular on TikTok, which provided the inspiration for this post. Head over to TikTok and search for “PowerPoint Parties” to find ideas… be forewarned that some of these ideas will not be “school appropriate” but still humorous.

Using an Exit Ticket Journal to Check Understanding

Using an Exit Ticket Journal to Check Understanding

Exit tickets are not a new concept, but making them work for you can be time consuming and feel like a chore. Instead of a helpful tool to wrap up a class, they can be a hindrance of extra grading time. So, how can we make exit tickets work in an effective way that won’t take up more of our time than needed but will also give us valuable feedback to guide instruction?

5 Ways to Use Jamboard in Secondary ELA

5 Ways to Use Jamboard in Secondary ELA

Jamboard through Google has become a cornerstone tool in my virtual ELA classes because one of my go-to strategies when we had students in class was to use sticky notes on the board. You can read more about the Board but NOT BORING: My Go-to Collaborative Activity for Secondary ELA strategy here.

Yes, YOU CAN! Use PDF Files for Distance Learning

Yes, YOU CAN! Use PDF Files for Distance Learning

Teaching online certainly comes with its share of obstacles and roadblocks. It also forces us as educators to become more innovative in our practices and approaches; however, there are so many amazing tech tools to help circumvent these issues— even if a file happens to be a PDF.

3 Thanksgiving Activities to Recognize Native Americans

3 Thanksgiving Activities to Recognize Native Americans

Thanksgiving season provides ELA teachers with the perfect opportunity to engage students in meaningful reading, writing, and speaking activities that can target creative writing, analysis, as well as multiculturalism. It’s an important time of the year not only to give thanks but also to acknowledge both voices in the foundation of the United States: the colonists and the Native Americans.

How to Facilitate Online Discussion Boards

How to Facilitate Online Discussion Boards

Online discussions can be helpful as discussion strategy for virtual learning or in a co-seated classroom environment. But, how can we facilitate these discussions using technology and going online?

3 Sanity Savers for Virtual Teaching

3 Sanity Savers for Virtual Teaching

So here we are. Many of us have found ourselves teaching online or in some type of hybrid setting. We don’t know when it will end— or even if it will end this school year. It’s a stressful time, indeed, and I’ve been brainstorming “sanity saving” tips to help us all get through the these unprecedented times.

Literary Analysis Essay Boot Camp

Literary Analysis Essay Boot Camp

This year, I have decided to start all of my high school ELA classes with a Literary Analysis Essay Boot Camp. I have discovered over the years that all students in grades 9-12 at all levels need repetitive practice of the same essential writing skills, no matter the grade or level.


5 Things You can do with Google Slides in Secondary ELA

5 Things You can do with Google Slides in Secondary ELA

Google Slides has become my go-to platform for any type of distance learning or even for class activities. It’s a user-friendly platform that can be used for so many different purposes and lesson plans— from assessment to writing workshop!

Five End of the Year Activities for Google Slides

Five End of the Year Activities for Google Slides

It’s that time of year once again when we begin to wrap-up the school year. There are so many great ways to do this in a meaningful way. Here are five options for Google Slides for wrapping up the school year.

How to Make a Choice Board on Google Slides

How to Make a Choice Board on Google Slides

Google Slides makes it easy to create content for our students to use online. It’s not only a platform for creating presentations, but teachers can even use it to create online choice boards.

5 Online Platforms for Distance Learning in the ELA Classroom

5 Online Platforms for Distance Learning in the ELA Classroom

As ELA teachers, our job is to assess reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Thankfully, all of these skills can be assessed through online platforms. Check out these FIVE universal and easy-to-implement platforms and lessons for online teaching that can be done at any grade in secondary ELA.