Culture

Read Everything: Why What Teachers Read (and Don’t Read ) with Students Matters

Deliberate or not, reading teachers privilege certain voices and experiences over others when they choose this author or that, this poem or that, this book or that. Some teachers may not want to take on political or social justice issues, but they are doing just that.

Throwing Out Reading Logs (and Homework)

Originally published on December 13, 2015, this is by far the most read and shared post of Ethical ELA in its first year. How has it impacted your practice? How will it impact your practice for the 2016-17 school year? By Lisa Nassar I do not …

Review: Dancing in the Wings

Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen My rating: 5 of 5 stars I am reading a list of picture books this summer, looking for ones to include in my junior high classroom library. What I am looking for in the text, with teen readers …

On ELL integration and inclusive practices by Sarah Dollah-Said

From Train Wreck to Triumph!  My Experience Teaching ELL Students in a General Education Classroom….We. Can. Do. It. by Sarah Dollah-Said I have been a teacher for over a decade now.  I’m totally aging myself, but in that decade I have seen trends in education go …

“Democracy” in ELA: What do 8th graders have to say?

  I took this picture on the beach of Gulf Shores, Alabama as I waded in and out of the waves trying to get nice pic.  We had just driven south from Chicago through towns displaying the Confederate flag, and, in light of recent Supreme …

Draw Your Story: Visual Thinking Strategies in Writing

The blank page is daunting for any writer. Talking in front of peers in middle school might be even more so.  A picture, however, can do the talking for us, and once it does, the writing comes. Take a look at my drawing. Yes, look, please. …

Talks with Teachers

Writing Fiction with Hemingway

There’s no time for fiction in English classes these days. Argument and argumentative essays were all the rage last year, and I don’t see that movement slowing down. Did you notice the nonfiction teacher books and resources being passed around your school and the new …

Ethical ELA’s Birthday: Top Posts

From reading comic books to celebrating teacher friends, from reading logs to reading Shakespeare, from portfolio assessments to throwing out grades, we are uncovering what English teachers do for our students, schools, and humanity. Thank you.