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What is My Voice?
Lately I have been feeling like my blog doesn’t have a voice… Do I write about teaching English? Do I write about middle school? Am I too focused on nuance that I have lost my voice? Am I so concerned...
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Crashing ISTE12 To Meet Friends – Not Teachers
A few weeks ago I crashed ISTE 2012 and got to meet many great people. I do not know if they are great teachers. I’m pretty sure they are, but how do I know? And I really do not care if they are great...
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No Ice Breakers Please
Seriously, if you teach any grade above fifth or sixth, stop doing Ice Breakers! They are a waste of time! The new school year is about to begin and I have already cringed, having seen a few posts...
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A New Somebody-Wanted-But-So
The “Somebody-Wanted-But-So” activity is a classic in many middle school English classes. I tend to use it to help students with the classic Plot Triangle. I have students do this activity immediately...
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You Ditched Your Desk…Is Your Classroom Next?
Why are so many teachers ditching their desks? Does not having a desk make you a great teacher? Are you somehow better than those of us who use their desks? Does a desk symbolize all that is wrong with...
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The Common Core: New Rhythms
“Your so full of what is right, you can’t see what is….good.” Neil Peart. In chapter one of Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement, Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman...
View ArticleWriting Prompts – Luke Neff
Luke Neff is a machine of all things awesome. I strongly suggest you check out his Writing Prompts site…. However, a goldmine of awesomeness can be found on his Teachers Pay Teachers site. I bought the...
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Starbucks, Former Students, and Questions
Walking into Starbucks, you can hear my pre-coffee tiredness: shoes dragging on coffee stained cement, saying sorry to no one after opening the door and hitting my own head, and the “Mr. Davis!…Mr....
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Soundboards, Stories, and Picturebooks
So I was reading a book with my Casen – that means looking at two pages and the him running off – when his book sparked an idea for a project for my students. These books are super cool because they...
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How I Hacked My Vanity
Today I knew that I was going to have six or nine teachers coming through my classroom all day as part of our school’s Learning Walks. To prepare for this, earlier in the week I added new information...
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