You’re in the right place for teaching ideas and resources to help you stay passionate about ELA.
Are you passionate about your teaching?
Ask me that question and I’ll answer, “Well, sometimes… but not always.”
Some days my class totally rocks. Other days, it falls flat and I wonder why I ever started teaching in the first place.
But in the midst of all that self-doubt, I don’t stop doing my job.
I just get more creative.
And in those moments of creativity, I rediscover my passion for my content and how much I love teaching English Language Arts.
Click any box below to explore my 300+ posts on literature and writing!
It’s fun to design lessons that 1) achieve the learning objective, 2) linger in a student’s memory, and last, but certainly NOT least, 3) grow my passion for my content. Those three things keep me excited about teaching… even at the end of a so-so day… even in the advent of Chat GPT… even when students are addicted to their phones.
After eleven years of public school teaching, I’ve learned this: that I must trust that my passion for my content ignites my students’ enthusiasm as well.
Here’s how my website can help you.
Let me be a resource for finding teaching ideas that will…
- reignite your passion for your content
- revive your love of teaching
- boost your confidence
- energize your classroom
…because when you feel passionate about your teaching, you love your job more.
And in the end, knowing your lessons are benefitting your students — and fueling your passion for your content and career — is the best way to take care of your teacher-self.
Get passionate about ELA! In my 300-plus posts, you’ll find lessons on The Great Gatsby, Beowulf, Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, ekphrastic poetry, September 11, coffee cup lids (yes, that’s right), Articles of the Week, vocabulary, you name it …even how to teach seniors Braille.
Need a new poetry idea?
Enter your email in the space below and I’ll send you a handout (shown below) to show your students how to write Treasured Object poems, one of my favorite poetry activities.
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I’m interested in your story!
In the world of ELA, what are you passionate about? What texts and activities make you excited to go into the classroom every morning? How can I help you maintain your excitement for teaching? Yes, there are SO MANY ISSUES affecting teachers right now, but let’s do what we can to enjoy our jobs as much as possible.
I am especially interested in your perspective on the following:
- how you keep positive energy in the high school classroom
- how you motivate disengaged students
- ways to combine visual and performing arts into literacy instruction
- meaningful discussion activities that involve all students
- poetry lessons and activities
- writing contests for middle school and high school students
- American classics and diverse text pairings
- engaging, effective, and memorable writing lessons for middle and high school students
Use my contact page, email me at elabraveandtrue@gmail.com, or leave a comment on any blog post.
Discovering our shared humanity, expressing our personalities, tapping our creativities, and digging for relevance in the texts we read and write.
That’s what ELA is all about.
Let’s connect!
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- The Great Gatsby: Chapter 1 ChallengesChapter 1 isn’t always a student’s cup of tea “In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.” (from The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1) We allContinue reading “The Great Gatsby: Chapter 1 Challenges”
- Frederick Douglass Final Project: The Graphic EssayA fresh way to reflect on Douglass’ heroic life and text Back when I taught middle school ELA, I assigned graphic essays (essentially a dressed-up one-pager) to my eighth-graders after they finished reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,Continue reading “Frederick Douglass Final Project: The Graphic Essay”
ELA Brave and True