While Ethical ELA began as a place for me, Sarah J. Donovan, to share stories from my classroom, it has evolved as a space somewhere in between school and home life, beyond walls and affiliations to connect with educators navigating questions of what is good …
Place-Based Writing: Feeling Like They Belong and Proving It by Jolie Hicks
It’s the holidays! During this season, every high school English teacher asks themselves, “How can I fit it all into my curriculum?” Being tasked with reading, writing, speaking, listening, among other skills, English teachers have 180 days to figure out how to best serve all …
Embrace Your “Why” #WhyIWrite
Welcome to day 5 of the October open write for educators and the National Day On Writing and #WhyIWrite! We are so glad you are here. A very special thank you to Anna J. Small Roseboro, Cara, and Andy Schoenborn for inspiring our writing and …
Shimmer of Being Alive
Inspiration Today’s inspiration for writing comes from Teach Living Poets (Illich & Smith) and the many living poets they celebrate in their book. There is this moment that happens in poems when the poet or speaker suddenly captures a shimmer of being alive that is …
Read Aloud! You’re Never Too Old for Storytime (or to Become an Expert Oral Reader) by Kate Sjostrom
Read Aloud! You’re Never Too Old for Storytime (or to Become an Expert Oral Reader) by Kate Sjostrom When Glynis was in high school…her sophomore English teacher…read short stories to the class… [He] read the stories because he loved them and he believed the students …
Perspective Poem (8/25/21)
Our August Open Write Host Judi Opager works at a Middle School in Torrance, California. Her first love is her students. She is a contributing member to The Poetry Society of America. Like most poets, she discovered her writing talent at an early age, heralding …
One Sentence Poem (8/24/21)
Our August Open Write Host Tammi is a Gifted Intervention Specialist and teaches ELA to 5th and 6th graders. As a middle school teacher and Power of the Pen writing coach, Tammi has spent over fifteen years sharing her love of reading, writing and poetry …
Sevenling (8/23/21)
Our August Open Write Host Tammi is a Gifted Intervention Specialist and teaches ELA to 5th and 6th graders. As a middle school teacher and Power of the Pen writing coach, Tammi has spent over fifteen years sharing her love of reading, writing and poetry …
A Short Note on Open Houses by Jim Hill
I have recently had the joy of attending a back-to-school open house at a rural high school in the southeastern United States. Normally when I write something like that, years of teaching secondary school worm their way into the tone of my writing and the …
Sunday Drive Tone Poem (8/22/21)
Our August Open Write Host Jennifer lives in the mitten state where she’s been a Literature and English teacher for over thirty years. She loves working with middle grade students as they are fun, curious, and still embrace their own quirkiness. Jennifer is a frequent …