It’s an interesting fact about reading that sometimes—maybe even many times—our brains don’t actually read an entire word, but instead look at pieces of a word to jump to a conclusion about what that word is. I read the book … Continue reading
Here is a tool that I created to help write sonnets. I do not use it as a stand-alone assignment (i.e., I do not say, “Here, seventh graders, write a sonnet.”). Rather this comes at the end of a month-long … Continue reading
Since publishing my last post, I have torn my file cabinets apart. I was looking for a specific journal entry that I remembered writing. I could not find it in my laptop, in my external hard drive, in my various … Continue reading
Back in August, a writing friend contacted me with the admission that over the last few months he had been suffering from creative paralysis. He explained, “I was mired in self-pity by lack of response and under-appreciation of what I was doing … Continue reading
Last week I decided that I needed a notice of confidentiality to add to my emails at school. Because the internet has become the go-to tool for such things, I did a quick Google search. I was disappointed with the … Continue reading
Goodreads Book Giveaway Raceboy & Super Qwok Adventures by Andrew Winkel Giveaway ends July 01, 2012. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win
The school year is drawing to a close, which means grades are due for my seventh graders. As is usually the case, I’m never happy with my grades. Well, not my grades, but the grades my students earn. Recently I’ve … Continue reading
I discussed the poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe with my seventh grade classes, and we had lively discussions about it. The conventional–and typical–interpretation of this poem is that it is a love poem inspired by Poe’s dead wife. … Continue reading
Those of you who read this blog have probably realized I’m chronologically impaired. While this article would have been an excellent choice of topics last week, I have once again decided to write about a topic after it would make … Continue reading
I stumbled across the website www.popvox.com as I read about House Bill 3774 and came away very impressed by what I found. Popvox presents Congressional bills and allows readers to present their support or opposition with comments. The comments aren’t … Continue reading
