Whoever said teaching writing is dull has never been inspired by some of the writing greats like Kelly Gallagher, George Hillocks Jr, and Donalyn Miller. These three people have heavily influenced my take on the teaching of writing. My first two years of teaching I struggled to capture the interest of my students while adheringContinue reading “Teaching Writing: Five Things You Need to Survive”
Category Archives: Teaching
Book Worm or Social Butterfly?
I am currently enrolled in a course on teaching writing and during this course the class is reading the book, In the Best Interest of Students by Kelly Gallagher. In his book, Kelly discusses some of the strengths and weaknesses of the current Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts. I’m a big fan of GallagherContinue reading “Book Worm or Social Butterfly?”
5 Reasons to Read Ray Bradbury
This week I wrapped up a six week unit on Fahrenheit 451 with my ninth grade students. Leading up to this unit every year I question whether I will be able to capture the interest of my students with the story. This novel is being categorized in the Classic Science Fiction genre these days whichContinue reading “5 Reasons to Read Ray Bradbury”
Navy Blue Notebook
Welcome to my very own Creative Writing Month where each day of the month I am focusing on a topic and spending fifteen minutes reflecting and writing as inspired by the topic. For more information about why and how check out my post, Writing Down the Bones. Today’s topic: Pick a color. Take a walk andContinue reading “Navy Blue Notebook”
A History Teacher’s Top 4 Techniques
Recently, in a discussion with a teaching colleague, the question came up, “How do you make history class interesting?” To me, the history nerd, it seemed like a silly question. As a student I was interested in almost everything I did or learned in history class, however, as a teacher I am learning that notContinue reading “A History Teacher’s Top 4 Techniques”
Honorable Debate
It’s been some time since I’ve written about what is going on in Mrs. Sisley’s classroom. So in case you were wondering the year is off to a great start and I’m excited to share a little bit. Currently, I am teaching six classes. In the mornings I have three English 9 classes one ofContinue reading “Honorable Debate”
Five Minute Friday: Learn
This week the topic for the Five Minute Friday link-up post is learn. What is a link-up? Essentially a link-up is when you join other bloggers and write on a similar topic. You share your blog posts with one another and begin conversations via a host site. You can head over to Kate Motaung’s page to checkContinue reading “Five Minute Friday: Learn”
Nine in 9th
As my summer vacation comes to a close I am looking forward to new beginnings. Over the summer I read the book, The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. This book was written by a teacher of intermediate Language Arts. She is so passionate about reading in her classroom it is difficult not to question everyContinue reading “Nine in 9th”
Motivating Readers and Myself
Yesterday, I took part in a very motivating Professional Development session at the public school where I work. It was a collaborative meeting that focused on the transition from 8th grade Language Arts to the freshman level, which I teach. I was particularly motivated and recharged during our discussion about teaching reading. It’s true thatContinue reading “Motivating Readers and Myself”
When the Grading Gets Tough…
None of my undergrad study could have formally prepared me for the daunting task of essay grading in a timely manner. I have been a bit of a blogging slacker over the past few days as my school post-assessment scores for the school year are due this week and have thus taken over my life.Continue reading “When the Grading Gets Tough…”
The Ameri Brit Mom 