The R.E.S.T. Approach is a realistic plan to make Summer 2022 meaningful by using time to relax, evaluate, study, and tinker.
All posts in Reflection
Six-Word Stories: 51 Students Reflect on the 2020-2021 School Year
The 2020-2021 school year is in the books! On the final day of class, I introduced my students the concept of the six-word story (also known as a six-word memoir). We reviewed Masterclass’s brief overview blog post and I went over a few tips of my own, including how to use punctuation, hyphens, and abbreviations.…
Article of the Week Suggestion Box
A student recently floated the idea of a “Suggestion Box” for potential Article of the Week assignments. Here’s how it works.
Planning and Revising Lessons for the 2020-21 School Year
Here are a few of the big curriculum decisions I’ve made for my practice for the 2020-2021 school year.
Back to School Thoughts – 2020-2021
The beginning of August is the signal that school is on the horizon. The 2020-2021 school year is going to look different. I plan on sharing what I’m learning to help other educators.
“Dear Basketball” & Remembering Kobe Bryant
“RIP Kobe 💔💔💔” I was in disbelief when I saw a friend post on Instagram the picture and caption above of Kobe Bryant. I raced to Google to verify and, sure enough, there were news stories about Kobe Bryant’s death from a helicopter accident in California. I’ve never been an NBA fan or closely followed…
#TeachWritetober 2019 Goals
I was motivated to sign up for #TeachWritetober 2019 after seeing a few teacher-friends tweet about their involvement. I’ve been meaning to write more, especially after my Summer Blogging Project fell flat. On the #TeachWritetober page of the Teach Write, LLC. website, one would see the following: How does the #TeachWritetober challenge work? Commit to…
Remembering 9/11 with John Adams and “Souls”
The way that I remember September 11, 2001, and invite my students to consider the impact of the day is by listening to John Adams’s piece, “On the Transmigration of Souls.”
Continuing To Change It Up In 2019
Welcome to 2019! I started blogging on this website at the end of the 2017-2018 school year to change things up a bit. This notion of changing things up become the theme of my professional life in 2018. Here are other examples of when I did just that: Took on a leadership role with the…
NWPAM17 & NCTE17 Reflection
Two weeks ago, I set out to attend my first National Writing Project Annual Meeting (NWPAM) and my fourth National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention. Both were in St. Louis, MO, and both provided me with a breath of fresh air in my career as an English educator. I attended several sessions and…