Category: Student Gallery
our breakup letters to 2022
After a pretty rough 2020 and its Bait-and-Switch cousin 2021, we were all excited for a shiny new 2022. Until we had to live through it. So, what better way to cut free than to write Dear John letters to 2020 and 2021. (Our… Continue Reading “our breakup letters to 2022”
the gratitude project (2022).
Back in 2017, during Thanksgiving week, I began assigning what I lovingly call “The Gratitude Project.” Essentially, I forced my students–and myself–to reflect on the Good in our lives in the midst of all of the Bad. And it quickly became one of… Continue Reading “the gratitude project (2022).”
the collaborative novella (ish).
In October of 2021, I read Liane Moriarty’s best-seller (now Hulu series) Nine Perfect Strangers. The story features nine individuals (strangers, in fact) whose paths intersect at an Australian wellness center. The focus of each chapter alternates among the characters. The result is a… Continue Reading “the collaborative novella (ish).”
spotify flash fiction.
Term 4 is tough when it comes to student engagement. However, I tried some new things this year that will definitely be keepers. Among them? Spotify Flash Fiction. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a story using JUST song titles in the form of… Continue Reading “spotify flash fiction.”
emulation 101: mirroring authors’ writing moves.
In her book Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers, Penny Kittle discusses the importance of using mentor texts to guide student writing. In addition to escaping into an intoxicating Other-World, students learn to appreciate craft as they read and take… Continue Reading “emulation 101: mirroring authors’ writing moves.”
project-based learning in the writing classroom.
When students speak, teachers listen. Most of the time. That’s how Creative Writing II came to be. But it was a bumpy start. The first year it ran, we lost the last third to quarantine. That second year, we navigated in and out of… Continue Reading “project-based learning in the writing classroom.”
our breakup letters to 2021
Once Shiny, New 2021 came onto the scene, most of us were more than ready to break free of 2020. Worst. Bait and Switch. Ever. And last year’s Creative Writing I & II students wrote the Dear John letters to make it official. Well,… Continue Reading “our breakup letters to 2021”
the gratitude project (2021).
This school year already looks different than last year. We’re vaccinated and boostered. We’re in person. We’re in full, non-cohorted classrooms. We can attend extracurricular events without having to play Rock-Paper-Scissors with family members to see who gets The Lanyard That Gets You Through… Continue Reading “the gratitude project (2021).”
our break-up letters to 2020.
My Creative Writers keep Writers’ Notebooks, housing writing exercises we complete each week. Some entries are brainstorms, others are single-sitting warm-ups, and others are the beginnings of pieces we’ll develop at a later date. It seems fitting, then, that our final entry for 2020… Continue Reading “our break-up letters to 2020.”
the gratitude project. (take that, 2020!)
2020 has been brutal. COVID-19, racial injustice (i.e., the Other Pandemic), murder hornets, plane crashes, brushfires, elections, remote learning, working from home. You name it, and it’s most likely been a part of 2020. One theory blames the “Baby Shark” song. If you’ve ever… Continue Reading “the gratitude project. (take that, 2020!)”
beth hughes.
I’m a tech-loving, high school English teacher out to woo my students back to bibliophilia through authentic, real-world tasks. Even with two decades of teaching under my belt, there’s so much left to learn.
WHERE OTHERS GO
THE LIFELONG LEARNER 