We often tell students that poetry can change the way we see the world. I’m not sure a poem saves the world. But I do believe the person who reads a poem might be changed. And I believe that change depends, in large part, on …
A New Year of Beginning Again
A new year invites us to look forward—but here, it also asks us to notice what has endured. Ethical ELA enters this year shaped by teachers and teacher educators who continue to show up, quietly and faithfully, to read, write, and respond. Over time, participation …
Teaching the Day After… Again, and Again
by Sarah M. Fleming In 2021, when I first wrote a post for this blog, I was reflecting upon the experience of teaching in the English Language Arts classroom one day after the January 6th Insurrection. I imagine you can clearly remember what school was …
Toward Better, Toward Healing, Toward Hope
by Erin Vogler Five years ago, when I began writing and sharing daily messages in my classroom, I never would have imagined that I’d still be writing and sharing them today. The #3024daily message began as a way to welcome students back from the isolation …
One Year to Live Differently: My Sabbatical Begins
I’m taking a one-year sabbatical. Not because I’m burned out or finished with my work, but because I want to return to it differently. With more clarity. More presence. More capacity for joy, for partnership, and for being in the world beyond my inbox. This …
How Teachers Can Make Sense of Our Current Book Banning Moment
by Henry “Cody” Miller I am writing this blog post in early February 2025. The last few weeks have been filled with headlines that cause despair and frustration: radical executive orders that mandate the erasure of BIPOC narratives and attempt to ban LGBTQ people from …
Demi-Sonnet
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We are here every month. The next Open Write is June 21-23. Our Host Sarah J. Donovan, PhD, is a former junior English …
Heritage Poems
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. Our Host Sarah J. Donovan, PhD, is a former junior English language arts teacher of fifteen years and current Associate Professor of Secondary …
Forgiveness or Unforgiven
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. Welcome. This year — May 2025 to August 2026– we are going to do just three days a month for the Open Write. …
A Decade of Writing, Teaching, and Community: Reflecting on Ten Years of Ethical ELA
In early May 2015, I started this blog as a way to document my teaching experiences after earning my doctorate. Unlike many who pursue a PhD and then transition into academia, I made the deliberate decision to stay in the classroom as a junior high …