Louise Maher-Johnson’s poem, “Notes from a Climate Victory Garden,” offers a series of calls to action, as seen in the poem’s opening: Rebalance: Greenhouse Gases (CO2,N2O, CH4, H2O vapor) with photosynthesis. Recognize: Plants cool by evaporation, ground cover, shade, and precipitation Replant: Lawns with Victory Gardens, as in world war past. Organized by lines beginning […]
Teaching students to hear the music in words, we can help them create writing that is not just efficient, accurate, and clear, but also playful, dramatic, and arresting.
Last month, I introduced two new means of reflection–a set of brainstorming questions inspired by Reading with Presence and a “poetry prescription” activity–that I hoped to implement in the weeks that followed. Today, I’m here with an update. Readers, they worked! The poem analysis letters inspired by The Paris Review’s “Poetry Rx” column were full […]
Welcome back to the Inquiry Lab! In my last post, I shared ways I teach and coach students to nudge each other toward deeper learning. Today, we’ll get into ways the teacher can leverage a workshop approach to similar effect, especially when it comes to inquiry work. It all begins with effective anchor charts. To […]
A Portrait of an English Department’s Racial Reckoning: Using Reading Responses with Critical Race Theory K. Keener (www.kakeener.com) has taught English in a variety of contexts across four continents and all levels for 21 years in total. She began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zimbabwe and most recently taught at Horace Greeley High School […]
This is a love story. In 2012, Allison and I applied for the same job at a local high school. One position. Two of us. We had never met and were not remotely aware of one another’s existence even though we had shared a couple years at the same university. On a Monday, I got […]
This months post @msablund takes us through a writing move that helps us build community by sharing our secrets. This lesson also extends beyond personal writing but can be a template for content and beyond.
Great student writers, the ones whose work I can’t wait to read, notice what writers do and begin to see how it all works together.
Hey there, new teacher! I hope you’re hanging in there! This is right around the time of the year during my first year of teaching when I learned teaching writing is a lot harder than it looks. By the end of first quarter, I had tried my hand at a writing assignment or two and […]
Mentor Text: Hairy Legs and All by Stephen Graham Jones Techniques: Writing Horror Defying Conventions Editing Background – My pandemic “thing” was finally becoming a podcast listener. One of my favorites, as you’ll know if we’re Twitter mutuals is The Kingcast, a Stephen King podcast hosted by wonderful pop culture writers Scott Wampler and Eric Vespe. […]
moving writers 