You know how you feel when you turn something in just by the deadline, and then a few hours later find something else you wish you could have included? That’s how I feel this week. Just after I published this…
Category: Teaching
Designing an Image to Represent a Character
Tara Seale posted details on a fun visual rhetoric and writing activity she recently used with students on the NCTE Secondary Section Blog. The activity, inspired by a similar task described by Shelbie Witte, asks students to design and explain…
10 Things You’ll Want To Read This Summer
Whether summer means time to read for fun or to prepare for teaching in the Fall, I bet you’re beginning to gather that reading list. You probably know where to find details on the year’s award-winning children’s and teen books.…
A Year-End Activity with Literary Lists of “Ten Best”
There’s not much time left in the school year, and you may find that students are uninterested in reviewing for final exams when they could be making plans for summer fun or a few days off between terms. You can…
Literary Lists of “Ten Best”
The UK newspaper The Guardian has an ongoing series that focuses on “The 10 Best of” a variety of topics. They’ve covered a range of interests, including fashion, movies, comedy, politics, and music. Fortunately for those of us who teach…
You’ll Like This Grammar Lesson Alot :)
Yes, I really mean “alot” and not “a lot.” As the website Hyperbole and a Half explains: The Alot is an imaginary creature that I made up to help me deal with my compulsive need to correct other people’s grammar.…
Video Interview of Author Tim O’Brien
If you’re teaching Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, be sure to take a look at Big Think’s video interview with the author. In addition to talking about his novel, O’Brien talks about the process of writing and the role…
Helping Readers See Themselves in a Text (NCTE Inbox Blog)
As a young reader, I wanted stories about young girls, about their accomplishments as women, and about the journeys they took from child to adult. I didn’t want to be bothered with stories of boys becoming apprentices, men fighting battles,…
Why You Should Try Twitter in the Classroom
If you’re even slightly interested in how you might use Twitter in the classroom, take a look at William M. Ferriter’s essay “Why Teachers Should Try Twitter” from Educational Leadership. The article explains, “For educators who use this tool to…
Change Your Metaphor
No more plug and play education. It’s time for more blossom and grow! Okay, so the metaphors aren’t really parallel. I guess it should be plant and grow, but that’s not as catchy. The difference between the two metaphors, though,…