We left the classroom a little more than a year ago and are reflecting on what we've learned and new perspectives we have gained as a result of our mental, physical, and emotional distance from the classroom. Whether you're thinking about leaving the classroom yourself or wondering how it feels to have stepped away, you'll want to give this episode a listen. 

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As a teacher, deciding which plays to teach is a rite of passage all its own. Will you stick to the classics or branch out and try something new? Will you transform your classroom into a mini-theater and have students perform scenes? Will you have students read parts or will you show the pretty faithful film adaptation? It's not easy and where you're at in your career, how much you enjoy student performances, and quite frankly how large your classroom is, will all contribute to the decisions you make.

In this episode, inspired by Kate's 5th grade son's newfound love of Shakespeare, we talk about the plays we enjoyed teaching (and one we felt a little meh about) and what we liked to focus on in our approach to them.

Episode we mentioned:
Novels We Love and Hate to Teach

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In this episode of the podcast, we're discussing whether traditional ELA instruction provides our students with the skills they most need outside of high school, or if we're long overdue for an update. We don't think we're out of step with most ELA teachers in saying English classes are in need of an update, while also recognizing there are ELA skills that are still completely relevant in today's society. 

What changes are needed and who's responsible for making them? Well, there's a lot to discuss there. 

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Ideally, we'd like to have all of our students participating in class discussion.  When too many students aren't participating, we start wondering if the discussion is a waste of time or if anyone is learning anything. In this episode, we're talking about class discussion strategies you can use to get everyone in class participating. We've got ideas for those who are shy or lacking in self-confidence, as well as suggestions for those who aren't participating because they didn't come to class prepared for discussion.

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The difficulties posed by challenging students and classes can really wear a teacher down. Our misery will often make us desperate and open us to all kinds of classroom management ideas and suggestions in the hope we will find the magical "cure" to our woes, but sometimes we don't want solutions; we just want to commiserate with those who also know the "challenging" student struggle so we feel a little less alone.

Enter this week's dilemma. A teacher in the midst of a "the struggle is real" moment (probably more accurately, "year") wrote in with this dilemma:

“I have an incredibly challenging class this year. There are so many behavior problems and so many student needs, and it is wearing me out. I know classroom management strategies, but I think I just want to know that I’m not alone. What did you learn from your most challenging classes?”

We're sharing the lessons we learned from our most challenging classes and students. Give it a listen and see if our experiences resonate with your own.

Related Content:

Looking for some classroom management strategies to help you deal with your most challenging students? Check out this blog post.

In this YouTube video, we're sharing some classroom management strategies you can use at the secondary level for all your classes.

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Do you dread those days when you're expecting your students to read in class? If your students don't like to read: not independently, not collectively, not at all, it's likely they lack reading stamina. They can't stay focused on a text for any length of time, they're easily distracted, and those who are easily distracted distract others. 

While it may feel like an uphill battle to turn a nonreader into a reader at the high school level, we can make progress by helping them improve their reading stamina. Ever the realists, though, we also think sometimes needs must, and you need to meet students where they're at in order to make any reading-based progress throughout the school year. 

Check out the FREE First Chapter Friday offer we mentioned to help build interest in engaging books!

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How do you feel about your level of parent-teacher communication? Is it something you've got down? Is it your teacher superpower? Or, are you like this week's listener, who feels overwhelmed by the level of communication parents (and probably administration) expect and struggles to find time to fit it in to an already bursting-at-the-seams schedule? We're sharing our thoughts on parent expectations,  the reality about the amount of time we can reasonably devote to parent communication, and offering up a few suggestions as to how you can manage this important, but time-consuming, part of the job.

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March is, arguably, the worst month for teachers, though October certainly puts up a good fight for itself. We’ve been teaching the same students for eight months, high-stakes exams may be approaching, everyone is tired, and somehow we have a 31-day month WITH NO HOLIDAYS?!?! No wonder the memes and gifs of bedraggled-looking teachers clinging desperately to their mugs of coffee are flying this time of year. If you relate, you are not alone! In this episode, we’re helping a teacher who isn’t sure she can make it to Spring Break by sharing some of our favorite mindset, curriculum, classroom management, and self-care strategies.

In this episode, we also mentioned our 20 minute block strategy. Check out this YouTube video (all cued up and ready to go) if you're interested in learning more. 

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Many students are overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable task of writing a research paper and emerging writers often shut down because there's just too much to think about. As secondary teachers with nearly 40 students in each class, we, too, were overwhelmed. How could we make sure our students learned the skills they need to perform research if we didn't create a situation that enabled students to fulfill specific parameters for the assignment?

We decided on the two skills we wanted to focus on developing with our students and created an assignment that would give them an opportunity to practice and develop proficiency while also giving them the element of autonomy we've often come to equate with the yearly research paper project.

In this episode, we share the career research website we used as a foundational, required resource for our career research activity. Here's the link to the CareerOneStop website for you!

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Do you feel like you’re trying strategy after strategy to improve your students’ writing . . . and none of them is really working? You’re not alone.

Teaching writing is one of the most challenging (yet most important) things we do as English teachers. There are so many resources and strategies available, and it can be overwhelming to know where to start and frustrating when these highly-touted resources don’t seem to work for your students.

In this episode, we’re tackling this dilemma and sharing what ultimately worked for us: a structured paragraph format that reinforced the claim-evidence-commentary foundation that is essential for academic writing.

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