Mentor Text: Pause and Reflect by Melissa Martin Techniques: Background – Fellow teachers. Do you, like me, find yourself wondering how it’s possible that this school year, of the last few “unprecedented” years, seems to be the hardest? Those of us who haven’t engaged in the “quiet quitting,” or have left the classroom more noisily are […]
Mentor Text: My Father’s Moustache by Ada Limon Techniques: Background – As I write this, I still have a few days left of the holiday break. We taught until mere days before Christmas, but have the whole first week of January off. It’s been a period of necessary recharging and relaxation in our household. In fact, […]
Mentor Text: How a Poem Snapshots a Moment of Drama by Adam Sol Techniques: Background – I try to build little brain breaks for myself into the school day. That’s been vital these last couple especially challenging years. Access to a digital library has been incredibly helpful in this regard, as I don’t have to remember […]
Mentor Text: Chiaroscuro by Billy Corgan Techniques: Background – You may have noticed that I’ve settled into a bit of a rhythm in my Mentor Text Wednesday posts, alternating between prose and poetry. I may have mentioned this before, but perhaps 5 years ago or so, I really felt I wanted to do poetry better in […]
Mentor Text: Purple World by Richard Wagamese Techniques: Background – Sometimes, my path to a mentor text to share with you feels kind of random. We’re at the halfway point of the first semester, and I’ve been doing some planning for the second half. I was talking to one of my colleagues about this, and how […]
Mentor Text: Softball team at the ferry terminal after Provincials by Kirsten Pendreigh Techniques: Background – One of my favourite autumn traditions recently happened – I picked up a copy of The Best American Poetry 2022. And last year, I added The Best Canadian Poetry annual volume to this tradition. Perhaps it’s because we’re playing a […]
Mentor Text: 1986 from Music is History by Questlove Techniques: Background – I love books about music. Memoirs, biographies and books that analyze music, any kind of music, even if I don’t really listen to it, just fascinate me. Last spring, I read Questlove’s amazing Music is History. It’s a multifaceted book – part memoir, part […]
Mentor Text: untitled Olympic hockey poem by Richard Wagamese (arranged by Allan Hawco) Techniques: Background – Is anyone else struggling to find the groove this year? I’m thankful that I have years of experience to draw on, and archives of lessons to tweak, to build new ideas upon. I’m using that this week friends. My initial […]
Mentor Text: an excerpt from Fairy Tale by Stephen King Techniques: Background – One of the things I rediscovered during the pandemic was my love of the writing of Stephen King. The Kingcast podcast played a role in nudging me back his way. Listening to two fans and their guests analyze his work had me re-reading […]
Mentor Text: One-Line Poems by Stuart Ross and Snow by Alice Burdick Techniques: Line breaks in poetry Background – For the first time in almost three years, we were able to make our annual trip to Nova Scotia. Though it’s a month full of fun and family, I still find time to read. I’ve got a […]
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