Creative English Teacher — Teaching Ideas

The doldrums are a region of the sea where the prevailing winds become erratic or fade away completely. Since January is sometimes seen as the doldrums of the school year, here is some encouragement to get us through!

Maybe you’re the type of person who moves into a new classroom and just leaves the previous teacher’s posters on the wall. Or perhaps you’re one of those people who has to make a classroom completely your own. Whatever your decorating preferences, wall art is a great way to engage your students in your subject matter—almost subconsciously. This post will give you some tips for making your classroom pop! More and more students are visual learners: Love it or hate it, media is taking over most young people’s lives.  Pictures send subconscious messages, so take advantage of the four blank...

If you are looking for a way to motivate resistant readers, Reader’s Theater could be your secret weapon.  Without realizing that they are actually doing so, students participate in a group learning experience.  Many of my students (the majority of them upperclassmen) describe Reader’s Theater as “fun.”  Any time high-school students make this statement it should be considered monumental.  Yet Reader’s Theater is not simply a fluff activity.  As the students read the written word, they hear the words both spoken and performed.  This process can only improve their reading fluency through oral reinforcement and will most definitely increase their...