Blog
Literary Analysis is Not Just for Future English Majors
Every academic discipline has the inevitable, “Why do I need this?” topic. For English classes, that topic is literary analysis. It’s easy to dismiss the importance of literary analysis if you think you will never use it again...
Selecting a Grammar Program
Studying grammar has many proven benefits, among them an increased ability to craft a variety of sentence types and to analyze the writing structures of others. So, in addition to improving students’ own writing, understanding English grammar will help those students...
Set Your Kids Up for Failure: How to Reset Those Expectations and Create Resilient Learners
This is a love note to all my fellow homeschool moms out there. It may come across as harsh or judgmental, but I hope you will at least consider the message. It’s a lesson that was so difficult for me to learn, and now that my kids are older and in college, I can see...
Mark It Up: Tools for Annotating
I grew up in an educational environment where writing in books was discouraged; thankfully, my parents had a different mindset and allowed me to annotate in my books from an early age. I credit this practice for instilling a love for reading and a fascination for...
Learn From Food, Part 1: New England Region
Teaching History and Geography Through Cuisine, Part 1: New England Region The United States is divided into a variety of regions. In this post, I will introduce the New England states, which are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode...
Telling A Story With Sound – A Student Project
A famous film director once said that “...70% of a film is sound.” I don’t know that we can put a number on it, but one of the most important lessons beginning filmmakers can learn is the importance of high quality and creative sound in their films. Instructors of...
Is French Just for France?
I believe that French is a very useful language and obviously très cool, but what if you don't plan on going to France? Is learning French still practical? Of course it is! But, I would say that because I'm a French teacher, right? Well, I decided to test my theory...
Engaging with Content in United States History
Even though the United States is only 242 years old, its history is very rich. It is impossible for any teacher to expose students to every aspect of American History in a one-year course. In order to give students an opportunity to explore some aspects of our...
Chemistry Students Learn by Doing
Why are hands-on labs so important? What can a student learn from this approach? My favorite part of teaching science classes is performing labs. Experiments allow students to learn the material in a different way and for many students a better, more fun way. The goal...
Timelines and Traveling the World: History and Geography Projects
The Beauty of the Timeline for History and Geography Projects When we study history, typically we move chronologically, discussing different topics and regions. It can be difficult to see the “big picture” of how events occur at about the same time across the world....
Beyond the Paper: Why Creative Projects Are Enriching
As an English teacher, you will never hear me discredit the merit of writing a good analysis paper. There’s something magical about formulating a well-tuned claim and finding the precise evidence and wording to effectively articulate and support the claim. That being...
The DNA Makes Protein!
Starting the DNA unit in biology each year in November is one of my favorite times of the school year! We start with a little introduction song to get us pumped up and also learn that the basic function of DNA is, well, to make protein! If you’re not sure about that,...
