I'm on a mini-vacay at my dad's house in a small Texas town called Comfort. It's wonderful here because it's out in the country, there are backroads, trees, a river, and really nice people, and I can walk around town without worrying that a student will impinge on my "me time". My dad owns a… Continue reading You’re So Lucky You Get Summers Off! Wrangling Summer Teacher Guilt
Category: Secondary ELA
YA Author Spotlight- Mr. Neal Shusterman
About 10 years or so ago, I had the luck to work with an awesome librarian that had a fantastic idea- book an author to come and speak with the students, and make sure every kid had been exposed to one of his novels. To my everlasting delight, she scheduled Mr. Neal Shusterman to come… Continue reading YA Author Spotlight- Mr. Neal Shusterman
Everybody’s a Critic- Literary Analysis for Secondary English
One of the things I haven't addressed with a project before this year is literary criticism. Since I'm teaching freshmen this year at my school, one that allows me plenty of autonomy, I thought I would try to find something besides the requisite essay for my students to do as an assessment. Well, there wasn't… Continue reading Everybody’s a Critic- Literary Analysis for Secondary English
Mandala Assessment Fun- Use with Any Novel
I started sharing assessment pieces that can be used for any literature piece with my friends on a secondary ELA board in our area. I thought it would be better to write about my experience with each one here, then link it to that page. This gives me an opportunity to include examples and such… Continue reading Mandala Assessment Fun- Use with Any Novel