When I teach poetry to my sixteen- and seventeen-year-old students, I often think about the fact that many of them will be voting soon. I know that most people don’t see the connection here, but for me, teaching them to be critical readers of a poem is the best way to get them to be […]
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.
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why You Should Start the Year With A Personal Essay Unit
I love teaching my personal essay unit. I developed most of the classes and exercises way back in 2005, and I have been tweaking them ever since. But I always sandwiched the unit in between two books in the spring or ended up rushing through it so I could finish before some vacation or other. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Effects of Smartphones On School Aged Children
I left teaching this year after seventeen years in the classroom. It was a typical midlife crisis, and my job was only a small part of why I wanted to get away from it all to do something completely different. And yet, the students that I taught last year and this year were someone different […]