It's a cardinal rule never to talk over them. If you do, you're basically giving them permission to talk over you whenever they want. I say, "I...
lie = to recline lay = to place Present Past Past Participle lie lay lain lay laid laid Today I lie...
I was 22 when I started teaching middle school, 23 when I started teaching high school. My first year of high school, the kids asked about my...
187 students? How many sections do you teach? Oh my!!! My largest class is 29. I previously taught all the 10th grade honors English classes...
I'm in Richmond: two hours to the beach, two hours to DC, two hours to the mountains . . . all the restaurants and culture and shopping of a big...
This is something I wish I had a better answer to. After years of making my students learn what a predicate nominative and an adverbial...
The Giver by Lois Lowry
I moved from middle to high school after my first year. The atmosphere was undesirable in my first school, so I wasn't willing to return no...
I've never had a public reading, just one in class. I give students very specific criteria for their poetry; otherwise, you might get poems off...
I like the problem-solving, militant advice. I find that navigating the mine field of school bureaucracy sometimes requires a warpath approach,...
Today was a typical day in my life as an English teacher. I thought I'd share for anyone considering this profession . . . I arrived at...
I think you did the right thing by not losing your cool the first time. But the second time I would have sternly reprimanded them, reminding them...
You do need to tell someone who can help you, perhaps your mentor. You could even do everyone a favor by being the one they can point to -- "Look...
Oh, d_anne, I feel for you! I taught 7th grade English my first year, and I also found the process of teaching at that level very tedious. Could...
Integrate it into or with what?
Ironically, I'm on here procrastinating from grading essays. :) I agree with the suggestions you've gotten: --create detailed rubrics...
I just wanted to say good luck to amb and sochiwateach! I think you've gotten some great suggestions here. I taught 7th grade in a school just...
I resolve to compliment at least one good student in each class on Monday!
I don't think losing your good relationship necessarily follows from being perceived as an authority figure. Why would being an adult whom they...
I recommend the memoir Losing My Faculties by Brendan Halpin. It's not sugar-coated, so he tells the good with the bad, but I think it's...
