Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Reflections on Leaving the Classroom: One Year Later
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We left the classroom a little more than a year ago and are reflecting on what we've learned an...
Plays to Teach in Your High School English Classroom
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As a teacher, deciding which plays to teach is a rite of passage all its own. Will you stick to the ...
Is English Class Still Relevant? ELA Skills Students Need
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the podcast, we're discussing whether traditional ELA instruction provides o...
Class Discussion Strategies to Get Everyone Participating
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ideally, we'd like to have all of our students participating in class discussion. When too ma...
What We've Learned from Our Most Challenging Students
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The difficulties posed by challenging students and classes can really wear a teacher down. Our miser...
Five(ish) Simple Strategies for Building Reading Stamina
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do you dread those days when you're expecting your students to read in class? If your students ...
Improving Parent-Teacher Communication
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you feel about your level of parent-teacher communication? Is it something you've got do...
Long Time, No Break
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
March is, arguably, the worst month for teachers, though October certainly puts up a good fight for ...
Writing a Research Paper? Try Career Research
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many students are overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable task of writing a research paper and e...
Teaching Writing Can Be a Struggle
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do you feel like you’re trying strategy after strategy to improve your students’ writing . . . a...
How to Introduce a New Book Into Your Curriculum
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you found a NEW text that you want to add to your curriculum? First of all, congrats! Introdu...
Novels We Love and Hate to Teach
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week's dilemma will be a familiar one for any teacher who has been teaching the same prep ...
School Grading Systems: Trying to Make Sense of Grades
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Traditional grading, standards-based grading, grade floors, it’s all enough to make any teacher’...
How to Reset for a New Semester
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've all been there before. At some point during the fall semester, the wheels started coming ...
Teachers Under Pressure: Semester Grades
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Grades. Pressure. Anxiety. For us, these three words were inextricably linked with December (and May...
Academic Dishonesty: How to Deal With Cheating in Your Classroom
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Cheating in the classroom is as much a part of the school experience as bad cafeteria lunches and po...
Whole Class Discussions: Finding What Works for You
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A lively and engaging whole class discussion. We imagine ourselves sitting perched on a stool, steam...
Teacher Tips: Responding to Criticism (Because It's Inevitable)
03 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Whether it comes from parents, students, counselors, or administrators, as a teacher, you will inevi...
Grading Papers: Help Managing Your Grading Load
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Managing the grading load is one of the worst parts of teaching, especially in the ELA classroom whe...
Learning More About the Flipped Classroom
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The flipped classroom model has a lot to offer teachers and can be a great benefit to students, but ...
Navigating Assessments in the ELA Classroom
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We may not always like it, but assessments are an important part of what we do as classroom teachers...
Classroom Management Tips for Secondary Teachers
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An often ignored topic for middle school and high school teachers is classroom management. If we get...
How to Improve What You Find on the Internet
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Teachers cannot do it all, nor is it reasonable to expect them to! Let's normalize purchasing l...
How to Be an Effective Contributor in Your PLC
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Joining a PLC is like joining a family. Sometimes you fit right in and it feels like you were born i...
Being Real About What You Can (and Cannot) Expect to Accomplish as a Teacher
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Part of teacher self-care is knowing what you realistically can and cannot be responsible for, and b...
Trying Something Different This Back-to-School Night
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Are you looking for Back to School Night ideas for your middle school or high school classroom? In t...
Helpful Beginning of the School Year Lessons and Units
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first few weeks of school are an important but frantic time, and we’ve found high-interest act...
Making the Most of the First Week of School
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first week of school is an important one, yet it can also be awkward and feel overwhelming tryin...
It's Time to Up Your LMS Game
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You've used Google Classroom, but now you want to try something more robust. You've tried ...
Back to School Shopping: Outfitting Your Classroom
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's just about Back to School time here in California. It's a fresh start for students an...
Why We Left the Classroom
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no surprise that growing numbers of teachers are quitting, in large part due to teacher burno...
Being Proactive About Teacher Self-Care
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Teacher self-care is never going to fit into our busy schedules unless we are proactive about making...
Things You Can Do to Help Yourself Stay Organized This School Year
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Keeping your classroom organized is one of the first steps toward preserving your sanity. No matter ...
Finding an Independent Reading Program that Works for You
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Independent reading is an important part of any ELA classroom, but it can be challenging to find mea...
All That Miscellaneous ELA "Stuff"
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Grammar, vocabulary, literary devices, college application essays (if you're teaching seniors) ...
How to Make an Old Text Relevant to Today's Students
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Textbooks and curriculums are often slow to change, and unless your school has funding (and a desire...
How to Make the Textbook Work for You
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're talking about the dreaded textbook dilemma: "Help! I don't like my cu...
Helping Students Meet Your Expectations
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week's dilemma: I created what I thought was a great assignment with a reasonable rubric /...
Why We Stopped Assigning Homework
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While homework has long been a traditional part of the middle school and high school English class, ...
Winding Down Your School Year
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Give your future fall self a helping by hand by completing some (or all) of these steps before you l...
The Unit Plan Dilemma
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It can be overwhelming to plan a brand new unit. In this episode we share what we do and talk about ...
First Year Mistakes
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We take a trip down memory lane and recall some of the mistakes we each made in our first year(s) of...
Meet Cute
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this not-quite-sode, we share how we came to the profession and how we started working together. ...