In case you missed last week’s post, one of my goals for 2018 is to get back to writing. The plan is to publish a weekly blog post, the “Sunday Seven,” where I share classroom strategies, book recommendations, Project LIT Community updates, and other literacy and education thoughts. 1.  Project LIT Book Club Announcement It’s … Continue reading The Sunday 7: Author visit, independent reading, the need for diverse books & more →

My One Word for 2018? It’s simple: Write. So, here we go. The goal is to publish a weekly blog post, “The Sunday 7,” where I share seven reflections/strategies/activities/book recommendations that I hope educators will find helpful as they head into their classroom Monday morning. 1. What’s your #OneWord2018? I know there are lots of … Continue reading The Sunday 7: #OneWord2018, Dear Martin, #BookSnaps, Quick Writes, Mentor Sentences & more →

Happy New Year, everyone. One of my goals for 2018 is to get back to writing, so here it goes! Best books of 2017 2017 was an incredible year of reading! While I have a hard time ranking books (it's like ranking ice cream flavors), here are some of my favorites: Several are 2017-18 Project … Continue reading Best books of 2017 and 8 hopes for 2018 →

The purpose of this post is to revisit this piece I wrote back in July and reflect on what worked well during the first semester and what needs to be tweaked as we get ready for the second half of the school year. Going into the year, I had five priorities: Increase the volume of student … Continue reading What an English block should look like: Making second-half adjustments →

As 2016 comes to a close, I wanted to revisit the 54 books I had the pleasure of reading (and then recommending to my students) over the past 52 weeks. In short, all 54 are phenomenal. I have no problem quitting on a book  (life's too short to read books we're not into), and all of … Continue reading The 54 books I read in 2016 →

At the end of each semester, my students organize their writing into a portfolio in Google Classroom. The portfolio includes a table of contents page, all of their major writing assignments, and most importantly – a self-reflection. After reviewing all of their writing from the semester, students answered the following questions: How did your writing … Continue reading 10 Things I Learned from my Students’ End-of-Semester Reflections →

This post will explain: The inspiration for Project LIT Community How Maplewood students plan to increase book access in Nashville, so that all children can become lifelong readers How you can help! (If you're short on time, this video would be a great place to start) Problem: Over the summer, I came across this article in … Continue reading Proud to announce Project LIT Community →

It’s hard to believe that we’re already approaching the end of the first quarter of the school year in Nashville. As I reflect on the first six-and-a-half weeks, a few things stand out: There is tremendous value in looping. I’m teaching three sections of English I and three sections of English II, which means that … Continue reading Making the case for “Article of the Week” in an English classroom →

This post will discuss the importance of text selection, and share advice for teachers looking to incorporate social justice and/or relevant content into their English classroom. You can also read my previous blog post on how I structure and approach a 90-minute block. Confession: In eight years of teaching, I have never assigned work from a … Continue reading The importance of text selection & how to incorporate social justice in an English classroom →

NOTE: This post was originally published on the TN Department of Education's Classroom Chronicles. As we arrange our classrooms, finalize lesson plans, and reluctantly re-set our alarms in preparation for another school year, I wanted to offer advice to teachers who are hoping to instill a love of reading in all of their students, whether they’re … Continue reading Ten tips for creating a culture of reading in your classroom →