Thank you for your interest in our sessions at the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English, @oklacte, #okcte. There were many great sessions this year with the keynote by Dr. Antero Garcia. Below are materials from the sessions I presented and co-presented. Please be mindful …
Especially in high school years, we should help young people to discover the power of literature to enable us to experiment imaginatively with life, to get the feel and emotional cost of different adult roles, to organize and reflect on a confused and unruly reality, …
Originally published September 17, 2017. “Find a good place to stop in your books,” I say to end our choice-reading time. I finish up a student-reading conference and look around to see students finishing a page, writing a response on a sticky note, stretching their …
So all your students are reading independently during class time. They may have the required textbook open to page 728 to read a Ray Bradbury short story. They may all have their own choice-reading books because you just returned from the library (if your school …
I have had a great time this year reading the newest middle-grade releases. On occasion, I have even been able to preview books before their release and share these with students. Indeed, new books are exciting, but new books also have a long hold list …
Today Ethical ELA welcomes guest blogger, David Schaafsma of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In the spirit of youth resistance, please consider supporting “Teens Teaching Teachers,” a student-led session at NCTE in Baltimore, by donating to their fund and sharing this link: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/ncte2019 Seeing …
Seventh-grade students interviewed people who impact their lives beyond school and, with consent, posted the interviews on our class blog to share. They focused on what being 13 was like in different decades and different places in the world. Our stories span the globe. Everyone …
Today, I am sharing the tabs I have open on my computer: testing bell schedule, sub plans, 3rd quarter grades reflection, field trip plans, open mic GIF. I feel like I do a great job compartmentalizing all these tabs and tasks while I am with …
If you want to know more about minimizing grades and points in the classroom, check out https://teachersgoinggradeless.com/. The slideshow in this slice is inspired by Tamara Molina’s slideshow that she uses with her Biology students: https://teachersgoinggradeless.com/2018/05/12/making-conferences-work/. I have written about my ongoing process of minimizing …
This week, I had an idea. It happens sometimes. I am not arrogant enough to think this is an original idea nor have I done the research to be sure it is not already going on somewhere, but I do know that it is not …