April 18, 2019Maria Lee One of my favorite strategies to use with English Language Learning (ELL) students is Concept Attainment. This strategy helps ELLs connect prior knowledge with new concepts. The Concept Attainment strategy is based on Jerome Bruner’s research into a psychological process called Concept Formation. In order for humans to cope with their diverse environment, people group information … Read More
Lockdown
I never practiced a lockdown drill as a child. I never thought, “Despite the danger, I want to work in a school building.” I never considered that being a schoolmarm could be any more dangerous than maybe getting ink from the overhead projector pens up and down my wrist and arm.
Lit With Liz | American Street
American Street just sounds like the perfect symbolic name for a book whose main character is an immigrant. Right? American dream on American street? Sounds pretty perfect.
Fighting Senioritis: The Joys of Teaching 12th Graders
Senioritis, according to anyone who’s ever been one, is when motivation and effort levels flat line, usually during senior year, resulting in tardiness, absences, and poor grades.
Get Lit With Liz
February 21, 2019 Liz Zupan There are books that you forget as soon as you finish them. There are some that leave you stunned from the surprise ending that transformed your literary reality. And there are some books whose story lingers with you long after you have turned the last page—popping into your mind and filling the small moments of … Read More
7 Pieces of Advice I’d Give to Myself If I Were to Start Teaching Again
All of us, whether this is our 20th year teaching or our very first, must grow and change so that we can reach our students, who are also growing and changing.
When You Lose a Student
College doesn’t prepare you for how to deal with losing a student or how to take care of students who are affected.
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I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez January 1, 2019 Liz Zupan In a diversity training one school year, I had a professional development trainer say that there are teachers who are “mirrors” and teachers who are “windows.” The mirror teachers are ones that reflect their student’s race, ethnicity, or culture. The window teachers are the … Read More