Over the years I have helped hundreds of seniors with their college essay, providing advice on how to nail the opening, find their voice, write with clarity, and reveal something authentic. I distilled the most common mistakes into a blog post that has done well on this site, and I created a slide deck that … Continue Reading
In the two weeks leading up to the AP Literature and Composition exam, it is easy to panic. What do you review from the past 180 days? There are so many units, so many enduring understandings, so many skills. What little tricks can help your students make the jump from a 3 to a 4, … Continue Reading
When I was in my teacher preparation program, a few experiences stand out, none more than the day when my methods professor told us that we had to plan an entire novel unit. You would think that this would make aspiring English teachers all giddy. The training wheels were coming off. We were moving past … Continue Reading
My basketball season ended a week ago. Even though our record wasn’t that impressive, I am proud that we, as a team, made a concerted effort each day to enjoy basketball. The season spans four months and can be so taxing mentally and physically. If you don’t find ways to make it fun, it can … Continue Reading
Every now and then we all need a refresher. All of us. We need to step out away from the speed at which life whizzes past and avoid the monotony of death-by-checklist. We need to escape the din and discordance of bells dictating our lives, emails, GroupMes, Facebook boards, and Instagram reels by grounding ourselves … Continue Reading
One of the secrets to acquire knowledge is to read a lot. And so I try. But whenever we get close to a New Year, the Influencers that inspire me on YouTube and Instagram are cashing in on my inadequacies. They are gloating about how they read over 100 books this year + you can … Continue Reading
How do you get students to identify and write lines of reasoning? — Kendra M. Susan: I am often my own worst enemy in teaching line or reasoning because I tend to overcomplicate the concept; line of reasoning is simply an order to an argument. I love the analogy David Miller uses to explain a … Continue Reading
Chalk it up to too much pressure. It’s the weight of the world. There is all this anxiety about taking the first step. The old Head & Shoulders advertising slogan lingers in the back of my mind — you never get a second chance to make a first impression. This is what I feel every … Continue Reading
A recent study revealed that only 12% of teachers are “very satisfied” with their jobs. That number has dropped 27 points in the past decade. It is staggering to think that 88% of teachers are not “very satisfied.” The symptoms of this discontent are pervasive, but the root causes go beyond the typical explanations such … Continue Reading
If you head to Merriam Webster you will find that an essay is: an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view. This definition is somewhat near sighted. I stopped at the first one. If you dig a little deeper, though, you will see that … Continue Reading
