Success with Planning
Engaging, AI‑proof ELA activities that teach and reinforce literature skills without worksheets: movement, games, manipulatives, discussion, and retrieval practice.
Real advice from a mentor teacher: what student teachers truly need, how mentors can support them, and how to create a strong, successful placement.
Teach whole novels with purpose. Learn why full books build stamina, deep thinking, and real literacy skills in a world obsessed with excerpts.
Easy Spirit Week/Homecoming/School Dress Up Day costume ideas for teachers! Fun, last-minute dress-up day outfits you can pull from your own closet!
Set your yearbook class up for success at the beginning of the year with 5 essential routines—from bell ringers to file organization—that keep students focused, organized, and deadline-ready.
Back-to-school teacher tips inspired by NYC! From classroom management to student engagement, here are 5 teaching strategies and creative ways to start the year strong that I learned from my trip to NYC!
If you're an ELA teacher looking for consistent, no-prep bell ringers for the entire year for middle or high school students, this post is your goldmine. With 36 weeks of grammar practice, writing prompts, poetry analysis, or reading comprehension activities, you’ll have your entire year of bell ringers planned!
There are those times when "teachering" just isn’t optimal. What do I mean by that? "Teachering," as defined by me, involves delivering new material, expecting students to produce immediate results, or spending the entire class in direct instruction when students are already overloaded or overstimulated. These times include—but are not limited to—the days before a break, the holiday season, the week of a full moon, half days, or even the day after Halloween. During these moments, the best approach is to shift the focus away from you and onto your students. Let them lead, apply what they’ve already learned, reflect on their progress, and take ownership of their work. This hands-off teaching strategy creates a structured yet low-stress classroom environment where students stay calm, focused, and productive.
It’s a unique situation for both parties of a student-teaching experience: on the one hand from the point of view of the student teacher, you are entering someone else’s classroom and you may be teaching solo for the first time, and on the other hand, you may be the classroom teacher who is welcoming someone else into your classroom to take the lead. To say the least, this is a tricky space to navigate. That’s why I thought it would be interesting to speak directly to a student teacher – to hear her thoughts and experiences. Whether you are a cooperating/mentoring teacher of a student teacher or you are a student teacher heading into the classroom, this interview with a student teacher of high school English (Miss M), who just completed her placement, is very enlightening.
Pick a Category!
