Assessments, Education, High School, Middle School, Professional Development, Secondary ELA, Secondary English, state assessment, student needs, Teacher, Teaching, Teaching tools, Texas, Uncategorized

Gettin’ My Learn On- Part One of a Week of Professional Development

Who goes to these things?There are two types of teachers: 1) Actively avoids any type of PD and 2) Seeks out opportunities to learn. I feel like the first teacher hasn't been to many good sessions, and I feel their pain. Bad PD is like the fourth circle of Hell. Who wants to sign up… Continue reading Gettin’ My Learn On- Part One of a Week of Professional Development

Annotation, Classroom, Close reading, Education, High School, Middle School, Secondary ELA, Secondary English, student needs, Teaching, Teaching annotation, Teaching tools, Texas, Uncategorized

Annotation Academy- Teaching Your Secondary Students to Annotate

My Introduction to Annotation Several years ago, I was attending AP conference at TCU and heard the term annotate for the first time. I say several years, it was probably more like a decade ago. Of course, as an English student, I knew what interacting with a text was, but I don't remember hearing the… Continue reading Annotation Academy- Teaching Your Secondary Students to Annotate

Classroom, Education, High School, Middle School, Secondary ELA, Secondary English, student needs, Teacher, Teaching, Teaching tools, Texas, Uncategorized

Anchoring Your Instruction: Using Anchor Charts in Secondary English

Do you ever go on Pinterest (of course you do) and see some of the incredibly adorable anchor charts for the elementary classroom? They are so colorful, and they have little drawings of people and fish, and they rhyme and stuff. Can you imagine hanging something like that up for your middle or high schoolers… Continue reading Anchoring Your Instruction: Using Anchor Charts in Secondary English

Classroom, Education, High School, Humor, Middle School, Sarcasm, Secondary ELA, Secondary English, Teacher, Teaching, Texas, Uncategorized

Censoring in the Middle- These Kids Laugh at the Craziest Stuff

The other day, I gave one of my fellow teachers my Magnetic Poetry Kit because I've never found a place for it, and she has some on the side of her metal desk. I figured she'd get more use out of it, you know? Well, we teach middle school kids, so of course I warned… Continue reading Censoring in the Middle- These Kids Laugh at the Craziest Stuff

Classroom, Education, Flexible Seating, High School, Middle School, Secondary ELA, Secondary English, student needs, Teacher, Teaching, Texas, Uncategorized

My Flexible Seating Journey in the Secondary Classroom

I've always been a teacher that likes to make my classroom a bit more homey than most. Even in my first year of teaching, I wanted to add lamps, a couch, and a papasan chair to my room to give it that little something extra. Well, my first year was 20 years ago, and there… Continue reading My Flexible Seating Journey in the Secondary Classroom