Dragging 100+ essays home to grade over the weekend should not be a badge of honor. It doesn’t prove your self-worth as an ELA teacher, and there's evidence that it won’t give your students an adequate return on your time investment. Whether you are grading essays online or in print, I believe educational magic happens in the classroom—not in your lonely living room on a sunny Sunday afternoon. ... Read More about 5 Tips for Grading Essays Faster While Leaving Better Feedback
Keeping the Wonder Workshop: A Workshop for Secondary ELA Teachers
Some people plan an event then find the perfect venue for it; I found the perfect venue then planned an event. From the moment I saw The Story Shop on a home design blog of all places, I knew that I wanted to host something in this magical bookstore. Though I've never planned anything like this in my life, the idea of hosting a workshop for English teachers grabbed onto me and just wouldn't let ... Read More about Keeping the Wonder Workshop: A Workshop for Secondary ELA Teachers
Middle School World History Classroom: Inspiration for a Small Windowless Classroom
Have you ever looked at a classroom and felt a wave of inspiration? The kind that makes you think, "Wow, this is a space where learning comes alive!" That’s the magic of an intentionally designed classroom, and it’s what I wanted for the best teacher I know, my husband. I can verify his best teacher award because I hear, “MR. BIBLE IS MY FAVORITE TEACHER !!!” every time my own students figure out ... Read More about Middle School World History Classroom: Inspiration for a Small Windowless Classroom
High School Classroom Decor: Semi Flexible Seating in a Secondary ELA Classroom
I'm a strong believer that your environment, whether that be your home or your classroom, can influence your daily energy, imagination, and joy. Because of this, I set out to design my high school classroom decor to reflect the overall goal I want to achieve in my classroom. Since I'm a high school English teacher, I want my classroom to promote reading, writing, and discussing. Let me walk ... Read More about High School Classroom Decor: Semi Flexible Seating in a Secondary ELA Classroom
Teaching Secondary ELA Remotely: How to teach English Online
Alternate title: That one time I taught British Literature online while in FREAKING LONDON (and in Ireland, Scotland, Paris, Belgium, and Italy)!!! This post is a long time coming because when people find out that I teach online while traveling throughout Europe, their immediate question is: HOW? The answer isn't a short one, but I hope to explain how I was able to teach ... Read More about Teaching Secondary ELA Remotely: How to teach English Online
Transcendentalism Projects and Ideas for High School ELA
Because Transcendentalism is one of my favorite American Literature units to teach, it only recently came to my attention that lots of other English teachers (and students) find these texts extremely boring. Since this hasn't been my experience, I thought I would share some ways to make your Transcendentalism unit engaging and meaningful with Transcendentalism projects! Nature ... Read More about Transcendentalism Projects and Ideas for High School ELA
