Creative English Teacher

Posterology: How and Why To Decorate Your Classroom

September 08, 2018 • Teaching Ideas

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...

Life Lessons from Classic American Literature

August 25, 2018 • American Literature • Encouragement

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!

Hitting the Right Note: Making Your Classroom Sound More Engaging with Background Music

July 23, 2018

It’s important to set the learning mood in your classroom, and one excellent way to do that is through the music you choose to play during student reading and/or work time. Here are five techniques for incorporating effective music that I have found successful in my own classroom.

Creative Innovator Profile: Walt Disney

June 13, 2018 • Creativity • Innovators

Regardless of how you feel about the mega-corporation that has grown out of his studio, Walt Disney himself was an amazing creator. A restless innovator, Walt pushed himself, his employees, and the public beyond what they thought possible. Along the way he influenced the American imagination more than any other person.

Five Reasons for Teaching the Epic of Gilgamesh

April 16, 2018 • Five Reasons To Teach Series • World Literature

Ancient cultures, obscure deities, hard-to-pronounce names are enough to deter almost any teacher, yet even though The Epic of Gilgamesh presents many challenges, it is also a great teaching tool. In addition to qualifying as the oldest work of literature in the world, the epic is a rousing adventure that presents a valuable lesson about life and death.