Students' favorite streaming services, movies, and video games are all packed with compelling storytelling. To get them more excited about reading, I like to recommend books similar to my students' favorite shows. I have a bulletin board in my school's English hallway with "If you liked ____ try...
Many adults forget teens are experiencing a lot for the first time—friendships, love, heartbreak, and peer pressure. Sometimes these experiences lead to poor decisions, addiction, changes in behavior, or legal issues. In high school, every grade counts toward their future aspirations. That’s a lot...
The golden rule of reading is “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and even though I’m not in this instance, it would lead to the same decision: buy it, read it, love it. This last year has been filled with beautiful book after beautiful book and entertaining storyline after entertaining storyline....
Jennifer Epping shares her top five favorite young adult debut authors of 2022. There's stories of the apocalypse, a moon goddess, budding romances, and coming-of-age stories. Pick up one of these stories and download the accompanying lessons now!
September is here, which marks the start of the new school year, new routines, new classes, and new friendships!
From speaking with students I’ve taught over the past ten years and interviews conducted by my student journalists about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), immigration, and being undocumented in the U.S., I've learned that getting to America is one journey—staying is another entirely.
There’s something to be said about putting yourself in another person’s shoes. Even if those shoes will never fit perfectly, and you struggle to stay upright because you could never fully understand the perspective, journey, or fortitude that led them through it. Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a...
Poetry offers a creative outlet for writers to explore their emotions, experiences, and dreams for the future. It offers extraordinary literary freedom. It can look and sound like anything the author wants—it could rhyme (or not), it could be a haiku with short and simple syllables, or it could be...
Something I think students with siblings might be able to relate to is competing with each other to please their parents or be the best. In some cases it’s all in good fun, but other times young teens might feel pressure to match their sibling’s grades, experiences, or behavior.
The best part of my job is the gift of diversity and the stories I get to prompt students to produce in a creative way through narratives, short stories, digital media, and art. As a teacher, it allows me to broaden my horizons and understand our world a little more.
