You may have read my "Why I don't do literature circles and what I do instead" post, and now you want to try my classroom book clubs method. But you have some questions: What does it look like inside a "book club" meeting? What types of activities do you do? What questions do you ask students? What do you discuss and how? How do you keep it all organized? In this blog post, I hope to shed a little more light on the anatomy of my book club meetings. If you haven't already read my first blog post about the concept or structure in general, … [Read more...]
End-of-Year Reflection: Top Five Classroom Success Stories of 2018
It seems to me that 2018 has been quite the long year... but then again it does feel like I was just rounding the corner of 2018 not too long ago, and here we are already at 2019. 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), and choosing only five moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2018! This year in review... 1) Read-o-Lution: Reading is the … [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...]
Formula for Classroom Success Series Post #3: Interactive and Real-World Strategies
I'm continuing the series today on Classroom Success Strategies. Today's post is a two-in-one tip for interactive and real-world teaching strategies. At the bottom of the post, feel free to link up with your own favorite strategies in the comments section. Link products, ideas, etc.! In the fast-paced world of today's teen, I am always looking for new and different ways to appeal to my students. I don't always expect everything to be fun all the time, but I know that I'll accomplish more if my students are engaged. If you are on the … [Read more...]
Heart to Heart with Secondary School Teachers February 2016 Blog Hop
Thank you for joining us on this Valentine's Day Blog Hop where some great secondary teachers are sharing confessions from the heart about teaching!1) I like when former students come back to visit me or see me in a restaurant and say hey! It’s always funny because they don’t know if they should call me Julie or Mrs. Faulkner. They usually choose Mrs. Faulkner!2) I like having student work to hang on my walls because I hate making bulletin boards. I’m even guilty of having a cute activity planned but run out of time in class to do it, … [Read more...]
The Super Bowl: Analyzing The Commercials In ELA
A little bit touching, a little bit thought-provoking, and a whole lot funny – Super Bowl commercials are rich with material for lessons. Since I'm an English teacher, I see these commercials as the perfect opportunity to cover persuasive appeals, rhetorical devices, literary techniques, and even media choices. I'm sure we all have our favorites for different reasons, but the ones I linked below are the ones I love because I am that nerdy English teacher! I've compiled them all in one place for you, so all the research is done. If you … [Read more...]
