There are a few reasons I prefer to teach juniors out of all the high school grades.  For one, they're noticeably more mature than their younger counterparts; they're not suffering from senioritis (yet); they're moving out of the egocentrism years and want to have real conversations.  But the number one reason I enjoy juniors is … Continue reading Connecting with Juniors through College and Career Research

I absolutely love reading about, talking about, and learning about the turn of the century and the clashes between traditional and modern ideas.  I find it fascinating to think about how our current lives have been influenced by the changes that took place during that era.  This is probably one of the main reasons I … Continue reading Introducing Modernism

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the information and ideas I've been inundated with this summer.  Between Twitter, my stack of teaching books, conferences, blogs, etc., the ideas are swimming through my brain and no one idea seems to be taking the forefront.  Thoughts of Problem-based learning, Standards-based learning, vocabulary instruction, close reading, intense writing, and technology … Continue reading Reading and Writing and Speaking! Oh My!