Reflections on teaching, parenting, and living
The National Council of Teachers of English Conference is such a complex undertaking and often times overwhelming experience that I decided to split my observation into three parts. Part One focuses on resources while Part Two will be my overall takeaways. Part Three will be a recommended reading list from NCTE18. For the first fourteen... Continue Reading →
After studying Clint Smith’s Counting Descent with #thebookchat, I knew that I had found the first poetry collection that I was going to teach. Teaching an entire collection of poetry was something that I had considered, but did not see the full benefits from until reading and working through Smith’s Counting Descent from start to... Continue Reading →
This year in my classes of juniors and seniors, I will have students who were mostly not yet born or possibly were only old enough to be toddling around when the steel and concrete sky came down on September 11, 2001. 9/11 is as abstract to them as the Normandy Landing on D-Day is to... Continue Reading →
This may be a very obvious post for some English teachers, but until recently, I never understood the real reason to have a classroom library in a high school setting. We have a wonderful librarian with an unbelievable open door policy who orders nearly every title that a faculty member or student can suggest within... Continue Reading →
Thankfully more and more middle school and high school teachers are embracing independent choice reading in the classroom. Whether you were inspired by Penny Kittle, Donalyn Miller, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst, Kelly Gallagher, or your co-worker down the hall, you are going to have some obstacles to navigate in your quest to get students... Continue Reading →
I suffer from serious mommy guilt (about, well, a lot of things) particularly regarding how to keep up with all of the schoolwork, pictures drawn, and crafts completed by my two boys. What about the endless amount of school, sports, and activity pictures? What about those cute little things that they say that make you laugh or say ‘Awwwww’? How do we keep up with what is important and discard the rest?
Today AP teachers in 27 states will get their students’ scores, while the rest of us obsessively login and refresh just in case they release them early in our area. Following this score release is always a time for a mix of celebration, sometimes stupefaction, and always over-analyzation. As I plan and think about next... Continue Reading →
Many of my family, friends, and co-workers are confused by my excitement to join the AP Literature Reading with teachers and college professors from across the country to read essays for 7 days straight. My family has affectionately labeled my time at the AP Reading as “Nerd Camp.” I first applied to the reading pool... Continue Reading →
To conclude our year in AP Literature, I had students complete a Google Form survey full of reflective questions about our year together. I had students vote on their top five lessons for both enjoyment and academic benefit. While I am so glad that the students enjoyed these lessons, the academic benefit was also there... Continue Reading →
I did not become a professional athlete. I was never even a part of a State Championship team. But I am better for playing sports growing up. As a mother I can throw a ball with my boys. And yes, I throw like a girl. Not the hardest, but pretty darn accurate enough to record... Continue Reading →
Learning Curve 