This semester I took a course called The Politics & Creativity of Being & Becoming (CI 5368) with Dr. Susan Waite at Texas State University. One key component of this course was to complete an inquiry project.
Category: Education
Back to School 2022!
Our first week of teacher in-service finished up last week, and we have one more teacher day before school starts for the school year. I cannot believe how quickly summer ended. Toward the end of July, I started working on my classroom since I wanted to change quite a few things. Here's a TikTok video [...]
A Case FOR Creativity
Dear Students, What have you heard about creativity? When I was your age, I thought it meant someone could draw or paint really well. I thought it only had something to do with arts and crafts. “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”― Vincent Willem van GoghGoodreads That's not always true! One of [...]
Gamification in the Classroom: Level 5 — Road Work
Throughout this semester, I've been working to update Writer's Block based on verbal feedback from students, research for this project, and personal preferences to make it a little easier on me.
“A Shared World”
Welcome to a special blog post! This particular post is the second half of a project I'm completing for my Talent Development class (taught by Dr. Susan Waite), which is part of my master's program at Texas State University. With this activity (one of four different choices), I'm supposed to explore the phrase "apart, we are together" or the phrase "a shared world" in relation to an issue I care about in the world today. Then, I'm supposed to create a piece of "art" and share it with others.
Summer Goals… 2021
Have you missed me? It's been quite some time since my last post [NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program (Author Toolbox)], which was in October of 2020. I have been busy since then, so this lovely blog of mine has been moved to the back-burner. What exactly have you been up to? First, I'll give you a quick [...]
NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program (Author Toolbox)
The Young Writers Program (or YWP) is a way for NaNoWriMo to be accessible for participants 17 and younger (18 only if they're still in high school). Writing 50,000 words would be near impossible for young writers, so YWP allows them to choose their own writing goal.
A Treasure Map of Ideas (Author Toolbox)
You may or may not have heard about mind maps for brainstorming ideas. However, I find coming up with those ideas to be considerably difficult sometimes, especially when it comes to teaching essays in class.
MC’s garage sale (Author Toolbox)
This exercise creates questions. Will all the answers show up in the novel? Probably not... but the answers will help us better understand our character.
3 Tips for Starting a New Notebook (Author Toolbox)
I don't know about you, but every time I go into a store that sells notebooks, I find myself picking up each one and flipping through it. Even if I don't intend to buy one, I imagine what could be written on those pages.
Gamification in the Classroom: Level 4 — Problem-Solving after the First Six Weeks
I won’t sugar-coat it… At first, my students were completely confused. That is 100% my fault because I gave them too much too soon.
Gamification in the Classroom: Level 3 — Game On
It's almost time to begin the school year! This will be a short post to show you what we're starting the first week of school! Find out more: Level 1: Getting Started Level 2: Incorporating the Standards Level 3: Game On Level 4: Problem-Solving after the First Six Weeks Launching I'm using Google Sites to [...]
Gamification in the Classroom: Level 2 — Incorporating the Standards
It's been a few weeks since I've updated you on my gamification progress. I'm happy to say, it's going well! In a way, I have "leveled up" by incorporating the standards for my class into my game. Since I'm in Texas, we use the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). Why do this? Why not? [...]
Gamification in the Classroom: Level 1 — Getting Started
What is that big word in your title?
Oh! Thank you for asking!
Teacher Appreciation Week
Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day, part of National Teacher Appreciation Week, an annual celebration of teachers that has been observed since the 1980s. To celebrate, I would like to thank the teachers who have most impacted my life from elementary all the way up to those I work with now. If it wasn't for [...]
Let’s Write a Poem — National Poetry Month
Don't even think the word can't right now. The easiest way to start writing a poem is to let the words lead you. Watch...
“Flowers Are Red” — My Teaching Story (National Write Down Your Story Day)
Today (March 14th) is National Write Down Your Story Day. One of my stories is why I decided to be a teacher, which is not what I wanted to be when I was a kid. In truth, I wanted to be an archeologist for the longest time, but that dream ended in 8th grade after [...]
No excuses — What’s new this year?
Happy New Year (and one month)! I haven't written much in quite some time, mostly due to being super busy. But I'm still here, and I'm going to get back on track! You read that right. I plan to get back to my writing so much so that you will be able to read my [...]
4 Steps for Setting up a Writer’s Notebook (Classroom Edition)
Earlier this week I was asked what it takes to set up writer's notebooks in the classroom: cost, time, content, etc. I shared why I use them in my post last year (The Wonderful World of Writer’s Notebooks), but this post is dedicated to the logistics. (You're welcome, Jeffery Frieden!) To start, let me say that [...]
Writing Goals for the Classroom — 2018 Edition
Back in August, I posted about the changes I'd made to Writing Goals for the Classroom. I also mentioned that they'd probably change again (and hopefully improve) based on student feedback and personal growth. Well... It's time! We've adjusted the format from the first six weeks quite a few times, so I'll walk you through each [...]
Immortal Words of a Mortal Writer 