This year has been one of change for me. In January, I left teaching to follow a dream and move with my family to an ecovillage in rural Missouri. Since then, we have been homeschooling our two kids. When we were telling my family about our decision to leave mainstream life behind, they were – […]
Christina Gil
Christina Gil was a high-school English teacher for sixteen years, but she recently left the classroom to follow a dream and move with her family to an ecovillage in rural Missouri.
She believes that teaching creative writing helps students excel on standardized tests, that deeply analyzing and unpacking a poemis a fabulous way to spend an hour or so, and that Shakespeare is always better with sound effects.
When she is not hauling water to her tiny home, she can be found homeschooling her two kids or meeting with her neighbors about the best way to run their village.
Six Reasons Why Tests Suck
I’ve probably given hundreds of tests during my career, but the truth is, if I had the choice, I would never give my ELA students tests of any kind. This is one of those things that has sort of snuck up on me over the years. For example, I used to give a test on […]
I Remember When Teachers Were Allowed to Teach Their Passions
There are few things that I enjoy more than getting students to question, analyze, write about, discuss, and, ultimately, clarify their own views on complicated questions. It reminds me of my own history teachers in high school and how they communicated their passions to us students. In one class, we were supposed to study American history […]
By Not Allowing Your Children to Fail You Are Making Their Brains Smaller
Dear Parent or Guardian: This letter is to inform you that your student will likely fail soon. They might not fail a class, or even a quiz or a homework assignment, but they will fail at something. They will also make mistakes, get feedback on those mistakes, and then make some new mistakes. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ […]
Why Poetry Is So Great for Teaching Growth Mindset
When she first studied students to learn about how a growth mindset can be instilled in people, Carol Dweck gave kids puzzles. After successfully completing the somewhat easy puzzles, one group of kids was praised for their effort while the other was praised for their talent at puzzles or for being “good at puzzles.” Thus […]
Deliberate Practice and Growth Mindset
I have been obsessively researching growth mindset over the past few weeks. And one of the many misconceptions that I have discovered is around the idea of effort. It seems that many people believe that a growth mindset means trying and trying until you get it right. The more you practice, the better you get. […]
Seven Steps to a Fresh Start for your Class
You started off with the best of intentions—a clean desk, new notebooks, resolutions for the new school year—but things are already turning sour. Students aren’t working the way that you’d like them to, lessons have flopped, you are having discipline and classroom management issues. Your classes feel chaotic and out of control, and you are […]
How to Integrate Literacy into the Non-ELA Classroom
If there is one message that I get when I examine the Common Core standards for reading and writing, it’s this: Share the load. I think that English teachers have often shouldered the burden of literacy. We have felt that it is simply our job to teach students to write and to read and to analyze […]