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 …
Teaching LGBQT Themes with “Twelfth Night”
Teachers often try to hook students by finding books that “they can relate to” and what that usually translates to is books that deal with the same issues or kinds of people that teenagers encounter in their daily lives. But I often try to search out books that kids can’t relate to, at least not entirely. I want to expose them to lives that are nothing like theirs.
Book Response: No More “Us” and “Them” by Lesley Roessing
On Fridays, I write a blog post for my seventh grade students and their families about what we were trying to do that week in class. On the first Friday of the school year, I asked students to reply to the post with a comment …
Creating Conversations for Learning in a Grade-Based World
Kelly Mogk talks about the ethics of writing in schools focused on grades and scores. She says, “When students submit a piece of work to me, my first thought is always the same: First, do no harm. I want to develop writers that can express themselves with ease, and more than that—I want them to see themselves as writers and find joy in the learning.”