One of the most important things we can do as teachers is reflect, and so that’s why I love this annual blog post. It’s been my new year tradition for the past several years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), and choosing only five memorable teaching moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2019! This year in review… Teaching Gatsby for the first time in forever and writing the unit plan for it. A little bit Disney Frozen on the brain here, but it works. In the past, I had taught The Great Gatsby mainly in … [Read more...]
A Movie Review of HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 from a High School English Teacher
Finally... the moment my students and I have been wishing and waiting for - an updated movie remake of one of our favorite novels: Fahrenheit 451. We always have a little fun playing the role of director, choosing which of our favorite actors and actresses should play Montag, Beatty, Mildred, Clarisse, and all the other memorable characters. However, we do always wonder... would Bradbury actually approve of any screen adaptation of his magnum opus? I had so many questions before watching HBO's hot, new adaptation: Who would play Montag? … [Read more...]
Using Pictures in the Classroom: Catching Fire Hawaii Filming Locations
This summer I marked a major item off my bucket list. I saved for two years to take a trip to Hawaii for my 10th wedding anniversary, and as soon as school was out in June, my husband and I headed to the islands. While we were there, we had plans to see and do as much as possible. Of course, on the top of my list was scouting out as many Catching Fire filming locations as possible. Before the trip, I contacted a touring company in Oahu to inquire if they offered CF island tours, and they told me that much of what eventually … [Read more...]
