Feb 11 2025 Ashley Anderson Source Roses are red, violets are blue. My students loathe reading. I’m sure yours do too. To say that I love reading is an understatement: I devour books. Reading is like breathing for me. So many of the stories I have read influenced who I am today. Books were my first […]
Author: aandersondickinsonisdorg
A Time for Reflection: How Data Reflection Leads to Student Growth
Source As this year draws to a close, taking time to reflect is natural. As teachers, reflecting is just as important for our students, as it is for us. However, I have struggled with finding a “student reflection” that gives both the student and I real, honest feedback that we can turn into action. Data […]
A Music Memoir Unit Remix
Oct 8 2024 Ashley Anderson Source Shock-tober is just as much a thing for teachers as it is for students. I don’t know where y’alls students are, but mine are struggling. Struggling not only to make it to school on time but also to even write a sentence…correctly. Because the “struggle is real”, I knew […]
Letter to My Younger Self: A Bearable Way to Begin Your School Year
Sep 10 2024 Ashley Anderson Source This school year is very different for me. I am still in the classroom, but on a different campus. I am working mainly with students who are trying to graduate early, but have not passed one or both of their state-mandated English tests. These students are juniors and […]
Author Study: A Way for Students to Reflect at the End of the Year
Source The end of the school year is here and I could not be more excited. I am not sure how you have been feeling this year, but this has not been my banner year. In fact, Taylor Swift’s Anti-hero – “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me”- has definitely felt like the era […]
GRIT: Balancing a Student’s Capacity to Grow & Pass a State-Mandated Test
Source If you teach a tested subject like me, February seems to be the month that everyone starts becoming “invested” in what you are doing in the classroom and how it is preparing our students to pass their TEST. This time of year students are taking “field tests” and “benchmark tests” in addition to […]
Writing Guides: The Gift That Keeps Giving Year After Year
Source Christmas is my favorite season. I love this time of year because I pride myself on being a great gift giver. There is no greater satisfaction in life than watching my loved one open their gift and the look of surprise, mixed with confusion wash over their face as they look up at me […]
A Reading/Writing Road Map for Those Hard-To-Schedule Days
Source Friends, we made it!! Shocktober is in the rearview mirror and Thanksgiving break can be seen on the horizon. There is nothing I love more than the week leading up to a break for two reasons: 1. Umm… it’s THE break (no cap) and 2. It’s a week full of students coming and going […]
It’s complicated… but does it have to be?
How The American Teenager project got my students talking and helped me get to know them better. Source About this time eight years ago I was searching for help. I had entered the world of education with a parade, waving a banner saying, “Look out students, this teacher is going to change your life!” It […]
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