English & Language Arts Teachers

Just did my first virtual Socratic Seminar and it actually wasn't awful? My 7th graders, who barely talk actually had a good discussion on gun laws/reform based on an article they read. They talked! Or discus… more

Bomb dropped on me this morning that I will not be allowed to distribute novels for teaching my remote students this spring. We've done some of Jason Reynolds and Kwame Alexander's books in li… more

How many teachers are using Nearpod?

We’re going to read Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime during the third quarter. If you’ve taught it, do you have any ideas or resources that have worked well for you?

I’m having a really difficult time getting my seniors to participate in class discussions via Zoom, any suggestions?

My English classes are going to present Google Slides for a research project culmination. I was wondering what other middle school teachers do to keep the rest of the students focused on the speakers.… more

Does anyone have any good resources for teaching annotations?

I just love being told to keep my opinions out of my teaching while trying to teach rhetoric appeals, devices, and situation. These aren’t opinions. They are things that HAPPENED that brought these te… more

Anyone have ideas for a 10th grade honors vocabulary test? How do I make it challenging so they can’t cheat? It’s an epidemic at my school.

Why, despite multiple calls, texts, and emails, can I not get students and parents motivated until the day after all assignments are due?

Has anyone else struggled to get motivated lately? I have a ton of assignments to grade, but I just keep thinking what’s the point? 😞

Distance learning cheating on assignments: How do you approach multiple students when they have the same answers on an assignment? It was an annotation assignment and the fact that all of their respo… more

Six weeks in, how many essays have you assigned in a 100% virtual setting?
I’m hearing from colleagues that they’ll have 30-yes 30- assignments in the grade book by the end of the Q, and imply they’ve… more

I use a Google Classroom/Google Meet for an after school writing club, but it's tough getting kids to share documents with a whole class just to try and get one person to discuss and workshop with… more

Any good short stories to use for the hero’s journey? Preferably something on common lit or actively learn, for 11th graders?

Does anyone know where to get some good posters for my English classroom. I teach Secondary. Shakespeare is my favorite. I would like like something cool and different.

Wondering if anyone would be interested in doing doing virtual pen pals classes.

Does anyone use Actively Learn? I love it and would like to see how you incorporate it into your plans.

High School ELA Teachers, what is your administration’s expectation on turn-around time for the grading of essays? What is your actual turn-round time: submission to grade-book?

Is anyone using google meet breakout rooms? If so, how?

I am overwhelmed by the choices for online tools this year. So far, I am using Kami for annotations, google docs for writing, google slides for student presentations, and google forms for quizzes and … more

Working smarter not harder

Anyone here concerned about Battle of the Books for this school year and how to proceed...Also read any good books lately? I'm re-reading " The Talented Mr. Ripley...."

Anyone have any resources that they sell online using teacherspayteachers?

I am hoping to integrate more culturally relevant reading into my school curriculum but am having a hard time finding free/copyright stories I can share with my students virtually. Anyone have any ide… more

Looking for advice - what aspects of the google suite do you find best for a literature class? Any add-ons you’d suggest?

I know some great movies to watch to get teachers excited about the school year, but what about movies or clip ideas to get students excited about the school year? I am just trying to think of ways to… more

What is your approach to hybrid learning? How are you streamlining information for kiddos inside and outside of the classroom?

We start in a week and a half and our schedules are STILL not finalized, meaning I don't know what grades/ classes I'll be teaching. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 Anyone else in the same boat???

I’m interested in find out more about specific “Endorsements” for English teachers (for example, a Reading Endorsement, or a Dyslexia Endorsement). How many of you have earned endorsements? What type … more

Do y’all have any tips for including some core grammar work and quick writes to support student growth in proper writing and grammar? I’ll be teaching 5th and writing and grammar are a huge challenge … more

What's your view on teaching the "classics"? Do you think they are better/more important than contemporary lit?