Quality lessons for the busy teacher
When I was in school, I knew the first few days of school would always be reading from the syllabus. It was mind-numbingly dull, did nothing to keep me awake, and was serious motivation to doodle and daydream. Years later, as a teacher, I would figure out that the first day of school didn’t have to be boring. Here are some ideas on fun things to do:
Okay, I know. Using really old texts by white guys seems like a recipe for poor classroom engagement. But it doesn’t have to be! One of the standards in the informational text involves looking at U.S. seminal documents. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.9Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington’s Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, King’s “Letter… Read More
Sometimes, the end of the school year can be a pain in the neck. I know for me, I drag myself out of bed, slap my best teacher attitude on, and scramble for meaningful activities to have my students do that don’t require much prep on my part. I got tired of the scrambling part, and developed these sets of… Read More
Seminal US documents, while dense with academic concepts and perfect for teaching a wealth of standards, can seem like pretty darn poor choices for engagement. I mean, what teen wants to read about dead, old people? I am here to tell you it IS possible to shake up student engagement with seminal US documents. First let’s break down the common… Read More
National Poetry Month is here. I used to be hesitant to teach poetry. To be honest, I still am sometimes. But I have learned a few things about teaching poetry that have transformed my life. Scaffold, scaffold, scaffold. 1) Scaffold, scaffold, scaffold. I think this one falls by the wayside sometimes with upper grades. I know I personally would forget… Read More
Amanda Gorman’s poem at President Joe Biden’s inauguration was a show stopper. My thoughts were spinning trying to absorb the poem, analyze it, and witness the sheer impact of a young black woman reciting a poem at an inauguration. As a teacher and a mother, I can’t emphasize how incredibly important it was to see a young black woman reciting… Read More
The events that transpired January 6th, 2021 at Capitol Hill are devastating. I was glued to my screen, energy draining out of me, exhausted. So many questions were running through my head: How did this happen? How were law makers allowing this to happen? How were community leaders letting this happen? Where was the security team for Capitol Hill? What… Read More
Okay, so what is Pigeon Impossible and why is it so good for teaching tone, mood, and pacing? Well Pigeon Impossible is a short film by Lucas Martell. It has no dialogue, is short, and engaging! If you have read anything by me before, you know I love engaging lessons, especially ones that utilize film to convey narrative techniques and… Read More
This post goes over mental health, please click away if it’s not your thing. 2020 has been one heck of a year. This year saw a pandemic, the world burning, murder hornets, and all sorts of terrible disasters. For my little family it included an international move, the start of my dissertation, and the birth of our first baby too…. Read More
I don’t know about you, but when I was in school I remember my teachers pulling out the usual MLK speech or commercials and telling us to analyze for persuasive appeals. In teacher prep, those same methods came out. But those are boring. Filling out a worksheet is boring. And when I tried to teach my own students using the… Read More