Creative English Teacher

Five Reasons for Teaching Beowulf I can still remember the first time I heard someone read Old English aloud. The words had a hypnotic sound to them like a druid casting a spell. Of course, this druid was Dr. Ellis, my Hawaiian-shirt-wearing English professor. I couldn’t believe that what I was hearing was actually English or at least “pre-English.” I later learned that Dr. Ellis was so knowledgeable in linguistics that the Merriam-Webster folks (of dictionary fame) would send him whole sections of the dictionary to double-check for accuracy. Throughout that semester Dr. Ellis taught us how to conjugate Old English verbs...

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...

I created this infographic with some life lessons from classic American Literature. To see it actual full size, you might have to right-click it and save or open it in a new window. Enjoy! If you have time, leave me a comment below and tell me your favorite from this list!