I was on the phone with Susan Barber, my teaching buddy, earlier this week about my frustration with my writing and my need for a creative breakthrough. I’ve grown weary of writing the listicle: Six Ways to a Spectacular Thesis Statement, The Seven Poems I Can’t Live Without, Four Ways to Invigorate a Dull Classroom … Continue Reading
Midtown High School hosted its annual Curriculum Night last Wednesday night where parents rotated through their student’s schedule and attended each class for 15 minutes. Teachers are asked to introduce themselves, cover the basics of the class, and field any general questions (but this time is NOT to be used for parent-teacher conferences). We’re a … Continue Reading
I realized I was no longer young when my phone had trouble recognizing my face. At the grocery store, I want to “pinch and pull” to enlarge the produce-code numbers when checking out, but that is fruitless. I worry that if I can’t decipher those numbers, how on earth will I read novels aloud to … Continue Reading
The poor short story – overlooked, under-appreciated, and neglected. Ask an English teacher what they teach, and a litany of novels is sure to follow. Poetry has more prestige as well. Six poets have recited poems at presidential inaugurations, but no one has embraced the podium to read a short story. I, too, have brushed … Continue Reading
Thanks to Brian Hannon for creating these lessons and sharing with our community! If this is the first time seeing his site, I’d encourage you to also spend time checking out the poetry lessons and novel pairings. These resources are AMAZING! We hope you all have had a relaxing and restful summer! We’ve noticed an … Continue Reading
Brian and I truly count ourselves blessed as we work in the best of both worlds: classroom teachers and consultants for teachers. Once the school year ends, we work with teachers from across the country (actually the world) during the summer, and our lives are the better for this. Here’s our list of what we … Continue Reading
(Brian) I spent way too many summers the wrong way. My foolishness would start before it ever began. During the last weeks of school I would craft a master list of hopeful summer ambitions: What I was really doing was setting myself up to play the martyr, sacrificing my summer for the betterment of my … Continue Reading
Written by Valerie Person After completing year 30th year of teaching but my 15th year of teaching AP Literature andComposition, the 2025 Lit reading is notable for multiple reasons for me. It was a return toreading for AP Literature and Composition as I stepped away in 2024 to read for AP Languageand Composition. After the … Continue Reading
Written by Brian Hannon Hello! I had the great pleasure of reading student essays from this one of the operational prompts this year, the one revolving around the concept of “secrets.” The prompt is as follows: “Many works of literature feature a character who holds a secret that can have broader implications for that character or … Continue Reading
Written by Jill Massey and Cindy Dixon (Jill) The prose FRQ of the AP Literature Exam can be quite intimidating for students, so upon familiarizing myself with this prompt (which my own students did not respond to). Grading Q2 for this year’s “Set 2” was a real joy. (Cindy) After a week of reading, scoring, … Continue Reading
