My Go-To Lesson If I were to ask you what is your “go-to” lesson, I bet a dozen donuts you could tell me all about it! Well, one of my favorite ones involves several different variations of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Small side story – while visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Dallas, we took […]
literacy
Posted inBook Review
How to Think Like Shakespeare: A Fun Educational Tool
As an English teacher, there are few things more contentious than teaching Shakespeare in high school classrooms. The idea that he is outdated, pointless, and just plain boring has plagued many of us. I disagree with all of those things. Because of my positive Shakespeare feelings, I am always looking for new ways to teach […]
Posted inEnglish Language Learners
Return to Panem:Teaching Possibilities with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
When the original Hunger Games series was released, with its conclusion published in 2010, I was busy teaching 8th grade English at a suburban/rural middle school in Tennessee. I immediately saw possibilities in the book and was encouraged by a colleague’s work with the first novel at another middle school. I began using the first […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teaching with Integrity: “Politics” in English Class.
Reading the News One of the things I love most about teaching English is the broad range of source material I can pull from. I love lesson planning and I dislike being bored, so my teaching is constantly in flux. My students read novels, analyze popular song lyrics, write poetry, watch Ted Talks, and everything […]
Posted inDo The Work
Is it Time to Kill Mockingbird and Embrace Mercy?
Is it Time to Kill Mockingbird? Until recently, To Kill A Mockingbird was one of few classics I actually liked. I’ve usually pushed back against the canon, but I could get behind a story about a precocious young tomboy who helps her father fight against racial injustice. But, as I read it once again with […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
A Conversation With Words: The Importance of Annotating
In high school, when I first learned the skill of annotating, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop; my books were decorated with a rainbow of different highlighters and my pages were weighed down by insurmountable notes. It became an addiction – I would test myself with how I could “out-annotate” my last literature book. As […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Case for Graphic Novels in the Classroom
Right now, the world is flooded with articles about teaching at home and adjusting to teaching during this global pandemic. This is not going to be one of those articles. Instead, this article is going to focus on graphic novels and their place in the classroom. To clarify, when I say “graphic novels,” I’m specifically […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
In Defense of Classic Literature
Every so often, Twitter is abuzz with literary “hot takes.” Some are anti-Shakespeare. Others want only contemporary literature in schools. Most of the time, they are about how awful some classic literature is. They talk about the classics, and how overrated they are. The comments range from agreement to shock. The Classics and Language One […]