One commitment I want to make as an ELA teacher going forward: being much more transparent and authentic about how much I value writing.

It is a big part of my own life, thinking, and fulfillment—and I want to be way more open about that in our classroom community.

Since sharing this Their Eyes Were Watching God project/resource, it has been so cool to get all sorts of random messages from teachers with follow-up Q's, suggestions, and especially enthusiasm to bring this INCREDIBLE book into their own classroom. 🙏

docs.google.com/presentation/d…

'They need somebody to hear them.'

One of our goals going forward is to center even more teaching voices on the podcast—so check out our newest episode in which Jim Mayers does just that with Cyndi Mahne!

(and 🙏 to all those out there making teachers feel seen and heard!)

One student recorded theirs while getting ready for school and I was very confused until students explained that this is a thing, apparently?

1) I completely changed the curriculum for my AP Lit class and it was the best decision I ever made.

2) I allowed everyone's anxiety to dictate how I approached standardized testing and I became the worst version of my teacher self.

From The Madwoman in the Classroom: 'So, I decided that the final exam for my AmLit class would be a literary connections project: Students had to research a pre-1865 author and discuss ways that the living artist could have been influenced by one we studied. Here are the project titles.'

Just your annual reminder that the best way to know if your teachers feel appreciated is to ask your teachers if they feel appreciated.

(And then, most importantly, to listen.)

Add the word 'and' 🙏

Really appreciated reading through this edutopia article, thinking both about finishing this school year and also moving forward:

edutopia.org/article/addres…

I talked with Cult of Pedagogy and ireneteacher (she/her) about getting young readers to annotate in ways that are meaningful for them.

Take a listen