You know the signs. Students stare at screens without processing a word. Hands stay down even when you ask an open question. Group work turns into one student doing everything while others coast. Whether you teach online, in person, or both, keeping students genuinely engaged feels harder than it used to be. Passive participation has…
You watch a student crumple up their paper after one mistake. Another refuses to try the math problem because they are convinced they are bad at math. A third melts down over a B grade. These moments reveal something deeper than academic struggle. They show how students think about their ability to learn and grow….
Predicate adjectives sound fancy, but students usually understand them quickly once they see how they work. These adjectives don’t sit next to the noun like most adjectives do. Instead, they appear after a linking verb and describe the subject from the other side of the sentence. Once students learn to spot linking verbs, predicate adjectives…
You know what good teaching looks like when you see it. Students engaged. Concepts clicking. Your classroom humming with productive energy. But getting there feels harder than it should. You prep for hours and still watch lessons fall flat. You try new strategies but struggle to make them stick. Some days you wonder if you…
Participles are one of those grammar concepts students use all the time without realizing it. They show up in descriptions, actions, and sentence variety — especially when students are trying to make their writing sound more vivid. In this lesson, I break participles down into clear, manageable rules, show students how they actually function in…
Your students can recite facts and memorize formulas, but when you ask them to analyze a problem or evaluate different perspectives, they freeze. This gap between knowing information and using it shows up in class discussions that never dig deeper, essays that summarize without analyzing, and projects that miss the bigger picture. You know critical…
You know when students are engaged. They lean forward. Ask questions. Stay after class. But when admin asks you to prove it with data or when you need to identify which students are slipping away, suddenly that gut feeling becomes harder to quantify. Most teachers rely on participation or grades, but those metrics miss students…
Prepositional phrases are one of those grammar concepts students use all the time — without realizing it. They quietly add detail, description, and clarity to sentences by telling us where, when, how, or which one. In this lesson, I break prepositional phrases down into simple parts, show students how to spot them quickly, and give…
Today’s class blends reading, grammar, and literary thinking in a way that helps students build strong habits as readers and writers. We begin with time to immerse ourselves in our novels, then shift into a brief introduction to active vs. passive voice. Finally, we move into a theme hunt—a guided activity that teaches students how…
You know the drill. The bell rings and students trickle in at different speeds. Some plop down ready to work. Others need three reminders to grab their notebooks. A few hover by the door catching up on weekend drama. Meanwhile you are taking attendance checking email and trying to remember where you left off yesterday….