Our first semester ended in December. As teachers, we have a clear beginning and ending to things. In August—or for some, September—we...

As I returned the first batch of graded papers to my 8th grade Extended English students first semester, this was the buzz in the...

We all know that true learning comes from asking questions. Socrates taught us this long ago. Hence the Socratic Seminar. Well, this past...

At the beginning of each school year, I introduce the idea of feedback to my students. I explain often that feedback is not correction....

Those of you who have read Shoes and Boxes and Peanuts and Keys know that I believe in reading our writing aloud. I repeat this direction...

Some of my students are very proud of the fact that they can read quite quickly. They can read books in a fraction of the time it might...

Have you ever had one of those conversations that gives you energy? The kind of conversation that begins with, “I’m thinking about…” and...

Each summer, around the 4th of July, I begin thinking about my coming school year. So, right now, I am well into my planning mode. I...

When I began using Zoom as my classroom in March 2020, I did not dig into its many features right away. My colleagues talked about...

Just Because There is an App, It Doesn’t Mean I Need to Use It *Schoology *Zoom *Infinite Campus *Google Docs Google Forms Google Slides...

The world we have lived in for the past fifteen months or so has taught children some things. Some found that this world of distance...

My summer Writing Club this year was a hybrid, and it worked. I hosted three students in-person and eight on Zoom. We met for four days,...

“…you make English actually fun.” This excerpt comes from a thank you note written by Zack, one of my current seventh grade students. ...

As we approached the one-year anniversary of the day we went into distance learning, I noticed something about my students, about my...

I attend a lot of meetings with my colleagues, and this question comes up way too often: What do we do about students who don’t show...

“It’s a snow day!” Do you remember waking up to those magical words? An entire day, covered in white, was out there waiting for you. ...

A regular practice of mine has been review games. Games make reviewing fun. Competition encourages participation. The games I play in...

For those of you who have my book, Enter the Rubber Chickens, you know that I have my students play with rubber chickens to make grammar...

Before our school year began, I thought about the unbelievable amount of time our students would spend in front of a screen. A few of my...

When I prompt my students to write (See Shoes and Boxes and Peanuts and Keys), I ask them to use a paper notebook and pen or pencil to...