How do you feel about bugs? I have a confession… I HATE bugs. Really. I can’t stand them. You might ask: how can a science teacher not like bugs? I don’t know if I’ve always disliked creepy crawlies. In fact, I’m not sure where it all started. But I do love to...
What Should be in a Lab Report? You’re a high school student and have just performed a lab at home. You collected the equipment, read and followed the procedure, and jotted down the results. Now what? Well, it is important to learn how to master the typed lab...
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...
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...
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...
Pros and Cons of Annotating Tools 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...
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...
Crafting Cinematic Narratives: The Art of Sound in Student Filmmaking 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...
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...
Diving Deep: Exploring Key Moments 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...
Exploring Chemistry Through Hands-On Labs 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...
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....
