Success with Poetry
Tired of hearing “I don’t get it” every time you teach a poem? This blog post shares 5 teacher-tested strategies that build student confidence before the confusion kicks in. From guided annotations to smart poem pairings, these moves help students approach poetry with curiosity instead of panic. Think: less frustration, more “aha!” moments.
This past semester I had the honor of meeting Megan Ryan, who began her teaching journey in the school where I teach. My first year was a long time ago 😉 — another place and another time. So, when the year came to a close, I really wanted to pick her brain about being a new teacher. Learning from each other’s experiences — successes and struggles — is what makes us grow as teachers. For this blog post, I’m breaking my traditional “fast five” format to bring you Ms. Ryan’s responses in her own words; I loved her candor and detail in this interview with a first-year high school English teacher.
The excitement is in the air, the carols are playing, the trees are going up: It’s Christmas! What a wonderful time of year for celebrations. If you are like me, though, you want to be sure that you are still keeping your class contained and working on something skills-based through the Christmas Holiday season. Here are the best Christmas holiday lesson ideas, activities, and more for middle & high school teens for all subjects.
For this month’s Friday Flashback, I am a few days behind. I guess that goes to show how SUPER busy this month has been. It has, though, been a very exciting one! Here’s a quick peek at my September.
It seems to me that 2018 has been quite the long year… but then again it does feel like I was just rounding the corner of 2018 not too long ago, and here we are already at 2019. One of the most important things we can do as teachers is reflect, and so that’s why I love this annual blog post. It’s been my new year tradition for the past several years (2015, 2016, 2017), and choosing only five moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2018! This year in review…
One of the most important things we can do as teachers is reflect, and so that’s why I love this annual blog post. It’s been my new year tradition for the past several years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), and choosing only five memorable teaching moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2019!
This year in review…
Over the years I’ve noticed that my students are getting further and further away from knowing what happened on September 11, 2001, and feeling the weight of its magnitude on our nation’s history. I was in college when the towers were struck, and I remember sitting on the bed in my dorm room feeling crushed and scared and praying for every family affected by that senseless act of terrorism. I will never forget how I felt. Now, over a decade later, we are still impacted by choices and decisions made that day. Each September, I try to pause for a quick lesson in honor and remembrance of our freedom in America. Teaching September 11 can be tricky, but with poetry, it is much more manageable and meaningful. Here are 5 reasons why I love using poetry to teach the events of September 11.
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