We just finished A Separate Peace by John Knowles in my freshman English class, right in time for break! This is the first year I’ve taught freshman at my current school—as happens occasionally, teachers shuffle things around, which means every once in a while you get a new set of curriculum (to be specific, I …
Continue reading Where’s the Climax in A Separate Peace? (Freshman Want to Know!)
We wrapped up watching Psycho in my high school film class today. Showing a film made in 1960 to students is interesting, because none of them have ever seen it. They’ve heard about it, and they have ideas about it, but every year that I show Psycho I’m deliciously surprised by the parts that catch …
Tennis season is in full swing. Which explains why I haven’t been active on the blog in about two months—and much appreciation to Leah for holding down the fort! I'm primarily a high school English teacher, but teachers often coach, and I do enjoy my time out on the courts and in the sun. The …
Continue reading In Brief: Almost Done With Tennis (Coaching) Season
Sunday night marks two weeks until school starts—give or take, anyway, since students return to classes on a Wednesday. So I'll no longer be sleeping in, and soon I’ll have to start wearing nicer clothes. But the work load shouldn’t be much different because I’m already in a bit of school already. I’m an English …
Continue reading In Brief: Time to Start Practicing My Teacher Voice
It was a busy June. As detailed in our previous blog post, I both spoke at my high school’s graduation ceremony and then a few days later I watched my own sister earn her MLIS. Giving a speech is hard, and especially when it needs to be as close to exactly 90 seconds long as …
Oh midterm grading time! School has wrapped up, yet the blog has not been updated much, and midterms are the reason why. Essay after essay after essay needs grading, and when you multiple ten minutes for the average essay, times three essays per midterm (not counting short answer questions), times an average amount of students, …
Continue reading 99 English Essays to Grade, 99 English Essays to Grade….
One final thing about the wedding Leah and I attended last week: they handed out books. It was a brilliant idea, and fitting with the season—put books specially picked out for individual wedding attendees underneath a Christmas tree. My prize was a rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories. I’ve written a bit about my …
Continue reading Why Every Wedding Should Have a Christmas Tree
I just gave all of my classes course evals. This is something college students and instructors are intimately familiar with, I am sure, and though I did do it last year, not every high school implements them. My school this year encourages course evals though, and I love that since I’ve always found them productive. …
We’re finally done with “Macbeth” in my 10th grade classes. Students will be taking their midterms soon, so in preparation for them, and to give them a break from regular studying, we’ve been watching different “Macbeth” films. Here’s what I ended up showing, along with my takes on each. And seriously, if you haven’t watched …
Continue reading Final Thoughts on Teaching “Macbeth”: The Films
Lately I’ve been posting about “Macbeth,” a play I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching. But what does that have to do with the play “Hamilton?” Well actually, if you’ve seen “Hamilton” (or at least if you’ve listened to the soundtrack), you’d know the answer to that question. Or obviously, as you have probably guessed if you aren't …
Continue reading “Macbeth,” and a Question: Is “Hamilton” Worth the Hype?
BATCH & NARRATIVE 