It’s that time of year again…December. Such a hard month to engage students when they are so excited for the festive holidays and winter break. December and May are the hardest months to teach, but at least May offers an end in sight. Alas, we are in the midst of December yet again.
Read MoreWe love this time of year. The air grows crisp and cold and sweater weather is in full effect. It is also when we begin our unit on the Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol. If you are anything like us, you have started to decolonize your curriculum. We have put serious thought into the texts we use for our teaching and have made sure that we no longer cling to texts that only represent the white dominant culture. You may be asking, well then, why are you teaching A Christmas Carol?
This year we have focused on the theme of systems and power. We got the idea from Matthew R. Kay’s Book, Not Light But Fire. We have been trying to center each of our units of study with the frame: “How are systems created and defined? How do systems shape the world? What is the role of the individual in systems?” We have discussed the ideas of systems in history, and A Christmas Carol is a great intro into these systems when it comes to English Language Arts.
Read MoreTeachers and educators face overwhelming workloads, trying to accomplish numerous tasks with limited time and energy. Students spend only 12 percent of their lives each year in school, yet there is external pressure to do it all, from implementing new initiatives to meeting testing standards. This workload can negatively impact both teachers and students.
To address this issue, it's essential to accept the limitations of time and energy and focus on two critical ideas:
Read MoreDiscover how to design engaging microlearning activities for busy classrooms. Bite-sized lessons boost student focus, retention, and joy!
Read MoreNotebookLM is a grounded AI tool from Google that helps students interact more deeply with informational texts. Teachers can use it to support summarizing, note-taking, and critical thinking after students do the initial work. It’s not a shortcut—it’s a way to boost engagement, check understanding, and make feedback more efficient. Try it with one article and build from there.
Read MoreMisbehavior is key to building life skills. It is how we respond to that misbehavior that sets the foundation for our learning environments. Discipline is inevitable when in a class…however, it should be consistent and positive and not punitive in order to maintain a solid relationship with your students.
Read MoreClassroom rules don’t have to be boring! When you tie them to pop culture or books your students love, you’re making them feel relevant—and a little bit fun.
Plus, it’s one less thing you have to write from scratch. ChatGPT can give you a starting point, and you can edit as much or as little as you want.
Read MoreIf you’re looking for some spooky fun writing activities for the month of October, look no further. These two activities are a sure fire way to get even your most reluctant writers excited about writing.
Read MoreStudent engagement. It's a term that's been thrown around a lot in the last decade, but let’s really breakdown what student engagement actually is. And more importantly, how can we move beyond the illusion of engagement to foster deeper thinking and learning?
Read MoreIf you’re curious, I say give Notebook LM a spin with one of your own PDFs. You might be surprised by how smart (and surprisingly human) the “two-voice” podcast summaries are. And who knows—maybe your students will finally listen to their reading… literally.
Read MoreAs educators, we are well aware that language skills play a pivotal role in academic success and lifelong learning. Among the various facets of language development, vocabulary stands out as a critical component that directly impacts students' reading comprehension, writing ability, and overall communication skills. Renowned scholar Isabel Beck's extensive research supports the notion that making vocabulary instruction a daily priority is not only beneficial but essential for students' cognitive growth. In this blog post, we will delve into the academic research and statistics put forth by Isabel Beck, emphasizing the significance of teaching vocabulary on a regular basis.
Read MoreThis post shares two unforgettable, ready-to-use lesson plans that bring Poe’s stories to life in the middle and high school ELA classroom. From a blacklight-powered Tell-Tale Heart experience to an interactive detective deep-dive with The Purloined Letter, these lessons are immersive, standards-aligned, and guaranteed to engage even your most reluctant readers. Perfect for October, short story units, or any time you want to make literature feel electric.
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