Get everyone involved! Build fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis skills all in one short lesson. I use this lesson with my 11th grade American lit/intensive reading class; however, it would work […]
Blog
Poetry Explorations & Celebrations
It’s April and English teachers and media specialists across the country are celebrating National Poetry Month with their students. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are all bubbling over with ideas and […]
Teaching
Improving Vocabulary through Awareness
In the process of reviewing data from the new statewide progress-monitoring assessments, my principal and I found an area we could tackle for schoolwide improvement: morphology. It’s kind of a […]
Minutes Matter
A Grading Routine to Minimize Distractions
Years ago, in the early days of online gradebooks, I taught many students who took a learning strategies class as an elective. In that elective, they learned study skills and […]
Teacher Leadership
A Tool to Guide Change in the Classroom
It’s January, albeit the end of January. Most people (whether they’ll admit it or not) thought about changing and improving with the new year. It’s a natural inclination–probably spurred on […]
Teaching
Five Reading Response Strategies
This is the third post in a series focused on improving our practices for reading during class. First, I offered some do’s and a don’t for in-class reading assignments. Then, […]
Teaching
Three Free Sources of Supplemental Texts
Last week I wrote a list of tips for including more reading in your lesson plans, but I didn’t talk about what to read. Obviously, your textbook is a good […]
Teaching
How to Guide Your Students to Better Reading Comprehension
Getting kids to read in class is often a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. One of the biggest obstacles may just be your approach–so let’s start with what […]
Teaching
How to Dress Up an Exam Like a Puzzle
By far the most creative thing I did this year was the final exam I created for my leadership class–a cross between a virtual scavenger hunt/escape room and a test. […]
Teaching
Hold on to What Matters Most
Yesterday evening I found myself in the pool, playing inner-tube-tossing games with my 11-year-old daughter. I didn’t want to go swimming. After one-week back at school, and one more to […]