5 Ways in which Writing is Social
*Rapid clicking* She pecked furiously at the keyboard, her pupils dilated from staring at the screen’s bright light for so long. She hadn’t talked to anyone all day–if you didn’t count her characters. They...
Teetering On Wisdom Blog
Ideas for Your Literary Bucket List
Bucket lists are the epitome of YOLO lifestyles. People put on it everything they want to do before they die–no matter how crazy. They’re usually all the things we fantasize about doing but can’t...
What Exactly Do I Do in a Writing Community?
Now you know what a writing community is if you read the last post. You can make an informed decision on whether you want to join one. Personally, I suggest it. Like I confessed...
The Perfect Gift for English Language Arts Teachers
Call me “whiny”, but it’s totally unfair that elementary teachers get gifts every year. I mean, c’mon, secondary teachers have more students, do more grading, and build more meaningful bonds with students (when they...
YouTube Channel Recommendation: Overly Sarcastic Productions
I remember when YouTube came out in 2005. I was in 8th grade and to us, it was like a supplement to MTV—you watched music videos. By the time I started teaching, I really...
6 Realities to Keep in Mind for Technical Writing
It’s so easy to forget that technical writers are still writers, too. Though they don’t write “traditional stories”, or adopt the “writer” title when doing it for their career, they do still write. They...
5 Creative Projects That Develop Technical Writing Skills
Rather than teach the standards like products, I take the assignment’s purpose and teach the skills to accomplish the same thing with a creative product.
Movies That Should Be Books, Part 3
Hello, there, again! If you’ve made it to part three of this series, I’m flattered that you’re probably liking my movie interpretations. You probably know already that I have a knack for reading movies...
What Exactly Do I Put in a Poetry Journal?
When we think of “writers”, we tend to think of the short story and novel writers. We tend to ignore non-fiction writers and even completely disregard poets at times. It’s unfortunate because classic poets have...
4 Little-to-No Prep Strategies to Increase Student Reading Accountability
Kids don’t read. A sad fact that is only perpetuated by media and technology. Are media and technology ALWAYS to blame to you? Yes. Literature and stories are not dying, but the need to...
7 Realities When Writing Dystopian Fiction
THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking...
What Exactly are Writing Communities?
A community is–in a vaguely generic sense–a unified body of individuals with one or more commonalities. The lovely thing about such a definition is that the word can be expanded beyond locality, which is...
Building Reading Skills: Dr. Seuss for Allegory Analysis
As teachers, we strive to get students to perform at the highest level of the pedagogical taxonomy. Personally, I follow Bloom’s and cross-reference with Maslow’s psychological needs hierarchy. But, why…? It’s complicated. I’ll hit...
10 Realities to Keep in Mind When Writing Crime Fiction
Working with Victoria M. Patton– a forensic chemist and author of the crime fiction Damien Kaine series–here are 10 things you may or may not know about crime and investigation that can take your fiction writing from amateur to expert.
How to Write Dialogue: Authentic Speech
How your character speaks is important to understand their background. Rather than info-dump, you can imply it with accent, speech patterns, idioms…
The Perfect Gift for the Avid Reader
What do readers like as gifts? Books, duh. *rolls eyes* Obviously, but, reading isn’t just a habit or hobby; reading is an experience, a lifestyle. All book nerds come to love everything related to...
