Welcome to our NCTE Session, “Poetry is Not a Luxury” and the pre-write for our monthly Open Write. If you have written with us before, welcome back. If you are joining us for the first time, you are in the kind, capable hands of today’s …
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 …
I Am From: The Holiday Version
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 January 17-19, 2026. Our Host Gayle lives in a small town near the …
My Heart: Haiku
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that …
Picture This: Ekphrastic Poem
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that …
I’m Still Reading, Writing, and Teaching!
by Dave Schaafsma “I’m Still Standing”–Elton John Thanks to Sarah for inviting me to write an update to my blog post dated January 18, 2018, “You Can’t Drive 65: An English Teacher Reading in (Late) Middle Age.” I was 65, and am now 72 (do …
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 …
Gratitude Kenning
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that …
Traditions Tanka
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that …
Clean Up and Clean Out!
This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that …