Teacher Tips

Grading Essays: A Strategy that Reflects Writing as a Process

Grading Essays:  A Strategy that Reflects Writing as a Process

Writing is a process.  It is recursive.  No piece of writing is ever "final."  Something can always be better.  I often feel this way whenever I read back over my own old essays and inevitably find a sentence that could be better, a paragraph that could be stronger, or a word that could be more precise.  

Beyond the Test: 10 Innovative Ways to Assess Secondary Students

Beyond the Test:  10 Innovative Ways to Assess Secondary Students

Are your students moaning and groaning over taking another test or writing another essay? While these are tried and true methods for assessing many skills, I have been on a mission to find more innovative, unique ways of assessing student growth and learning.

A Philosophy for Assessing Writing: Aim for Improvement, not Perfection

A Philosophy for Assessing Writing:  Aim for Improvement, not Perfection

Over the past 10+ years of teaching high school, my philosophy for writing instruction has changed greatly.  It has been a decade of experimentation and adaptation; a decade dedicated to finding what works and trying out new methodologies...

Setting up & Assessing Book Club in Secondary ELA: FOUR FREE GUIDES FOR SUCCESS!

Setting up & Assessing Book Club in Secondary ELA:  FOUR FREE GUIDES FOR SUCCESS!

Book club is now considered to be one of the “best practices” in English Language Arts.  Book clubs differ from traditional literary circles in that they are less teacher-directed.  The students take on the responsibility of selecting their roles, making their assignments, keeping track of their reading, and much more. 

The Case for Poetry in Secondary ELA: How Poetry can Target Reading and Writing Skills in a Shorter Context

The Case for Poetry in Secondary ELA:  How Poetry can Target Reading and Writing Skills in a Shorter Context

Poetry tends to be polarizing among educators, parents, and students.  The word either makes a person smile or cringe.  But why is poetry so polarizing? 
 

Secondary ELA Book Club: A Menu of Options

Secondary ELA Book Club:  A Menu of Options

The first rule of Book Club is:  you do not talk about Book Club.  The second rule of Book Club is:  you DO NOT talk about Book Club!  Kidding.  The only rule of Book Club is: DO IT...

Acronyms for Literary Analysis: A Comprehensive List of Strategies

Acronyms for Literary Analysis: A Comprehensive List of Strategies

When I set out to write the blog article for this week, I didn’t intend on writing about the various acronyms for literary analysis.  In fact, I didn’t realize there were quite so many acronyms out there...

Releasing Control in Second Semester

Releasing Control in Second Semester

The holiday break is OVER, and it’s time to face the reality that we have 5-6 more months left of school.  So the question is:  How do we get through the next 5 months without getting burnt out? 

50 Pieces of Literature about Christmas for Secondary ELA

50 Pieces of Literature about Christmas for Secondary ELA

The season of Christmas is upon us, and it is a season of the year that has inspired the setting of many iconic pieces of literature.  The religious iconography of the holiday symbolizes themes of rebirth, renewal, sacrifice, forgiveness, grace, and the archetypal character of the chosen one...

5 Tips for TEACHERS to TAKE BACK Holiday Breaks!

5 Tips for TEACHERS to TAKE BACK Holiday Breaks!

The solution to taking back your holiday breaks all comes down to buying yourself time before and after the break to do the things that need to get done.  In essence, it all comes down to planning...

How to Craft Annotations for Deeper Reading

How to Craft Annotations for Deeper Reading

Active and purposeful highlighting and annotating is an important skill that can enable greater success in being able to comprehend a text.  Of course, there is an ongoing conversation as to whether or not highlighting in particular detracts from comprehension...

The Three Levels of Reading: A Strategy for Complex Texts

The Three Levels of Reading:  A Strategy for Complex Texts

One of the most important skills we teach across all content areas, not just in English class, is how to comprehend complex texts.  It is probably the most crucial skill that we can teach in our classrooms because... 

Last Minute Lesson Ideas for All Content Areas

Last Minute Lesson Ideas for All Content Areas

I always try to have a solid plan for my classes, but sometimes, a day sneaks up on me where I don’t have anything planned, and I’m scrapping to fill it with something enriching and meaningful.  And, if I’m being completely honest...

Teachers: Five Ways to Work in Exercise at School to Stay in Shape

Teachers:  Five Ways to Work in Exercise at School to Stay in Shape

Do you struggle with getting in at least three quality workouts during the week?  Are you like me and bring your gym bag to school everyday...

 

Five Creative Ways to use Evernote in the Classroom to Support Educational Content

Five Creative Ways to use Evernote in the Classroom to Support Educational Content

Recently, Evernote has been popping up in classrooms across the nation as a free tool to aid students and teachers...

 

Interactive Notebooks are NOT Just for English Class!—Why They Matter in Every Content Area!

Interactive Notebooks are NOT Just for English Class!—Why They Matter in Every Content Area!

I’ll be the first to admit that when I’ve seen other teachers doing interactive notebooks with their students, I thought of them as more of an “art project” than anything educational.  But then...  

How to EAT Healthy at School: FIVE Tips for TEACHERS

How to EAT Healthy at School:  FIVE Tips for TEACHERS

First thing is first with a blog title such as this!  I have to admit that it is most definitely a case of calling the kettle black that I am writing this blog article.  Why?  Well, because if there is a cookie, I will eat it.  If there is cake...

How to use a Writer’s Notebook in the Classroom While Integrating Technology

How to use a Writer’s Notebook in the Classroom While Integrating Technology

The Writer's Notebook is an essential tool for the ELA classroom as a facilitator for the writing process. It makes the teacher's job easier and more efficient to assign and assess work, and it helps...

Managing Make-up Work in the Secondary Classroom: Five Steps for Success!

Managing Make-up Work in the Secondary Classroom:  Five Steps for Success!

It took me about four or five years of my teaching career to figure out an efficient system for navigating make-up work.  And as the technology got better, so did my ability to keep up with my absent students...  

 

From MACRO to MICRO: Using Backward Design for Lesson Planning in Five Steps

From MACRO to MICRO:  Using Backward Design for Lesson Planning in Five Steps

Understanding by Design is one of the most fundamental texts and philosophies for planning a lesson and being a teacher.  We all know the importance of planning lessons around the skills objectives and learning targets...