Grading Papers

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Grading Papers

Our goal is to offer valuable insights and resources for the Secondary ELA teaching community.

After all, there is more to being an English teacher than just perpetually grading papers... right?

02/11/2021

Hi! We’re still here and we miss you. It’s been a wild year for both of us. Emma has a brand-new little one at home and I’m due with #2 in April.
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We’ve been in-person since August which has been simultaneously rewarding and terrifying. Because we’re expected to teach any number of quarantined students virtually while also teaching in person, ALL of our extra time and energy has been directed toward doing that as efficiently as possible. We’re back to that old 1st-year-teacher metaphor of building the airplane while learning how to fly it. It’s a game of inches for sure.
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We’re hoping that this summer will bring opportunities for reflection and posting. In the meantime, keep loving your students and fighting the good fight.

08/10/2020

Ashley is an organization queen and helped me soooo much my first year of teaching (and, like, every year??) She made this AWESOME infographic of some of her best organizational tips! 📓
For your own copy, check out the “Other Resources” tab on our website! (Link in bio)
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06/01/2020

Emma recently read a post on a large teaching page that was advocating for the movement. A commenter asked, “So, when will this page start posting about teaching resources again?”
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Literature and resources educating others on the systemic racism that has lived in our country for decades, and how to combat these injustices ARE teaching resources. We as teachers have a duty to educate our students on these topics and disrupt the systems that oppress our students of color. To stand by quietly is speaking volumes to our students. We cannot stand by quietly anymore.
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We have been reading, listening, and learning this past week. We’re looking at ways to further amplify non-white voices in our curriculum and we want to help you do the same. Please visit our blog for our most recent post, a list of our current favorite anti-racist resources that can start the ripple effect of change in your classroom. Link in bio.
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To quote .cargle: “We are here to unlearn, to build knowledge, to break cycles of racism that have been embedded in this country since it’s birth. We are here to be a part of the solution. We are here to .”
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To the community: We understand that we will never understand. However, we still stand with you. 🖤
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✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 @ Columbia, Missouri

05/25/2020

That’s it folks - We officially had our last day of school this past Friday! ☀️ This week, we’re finalizing grades and wrapping up the year. To be honest, I’m so relieved. My sad feelings about the year ending abruptly have been replaced with the sweet relief of summer vacation! Are you feeling the same?
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The fall semester is so uncertain for our school right now. Ashley and I are doing our best to focus on what we can control and to stay optimistic. How are you preparing for the fall this summer? What changes are you making to your curriculum? Start the convo in the comments!
👇👇👇 ~ Emma
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05/11/2020

Hello teacher friends! This is my last week of graduate school, and I will soon be earning my MA in Teaching & Curriculum (yay!).
One of my finals asked me to explore the topic of the five-paragraph essay structure. Instead of writing a traditional academic essay, I decided to turn my discussion into a blog post to share with everyone. ✏️
Click the link in our bio to read and join the conversation! 🗣
~ Emma
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@ Columbia, Missouri

05/04/2020

is still going strong with our staff spirit photos. I love the one for this week: May Motivations ~ share something (quote, book, song, image, etc.) that energizes or centers you and keeps you moving forward. I knew EXACTLY what I was going to share; my arena.
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So many of you are familiar with “The Man in the Arena” by Theodore Roosevelt, but it holds a special place in my family. When my dad graduated from Mizzou, he was gifted this quote along with a sweet letter from his family, encouraging him to enter his arena (the military) boldly and unapologetically. When I followed my dad’s footsteps and graduated from Mizzou, my parents gifted me with the same thing. This quote, along with their letter, hangs in a frame right by my bed and is usually one of the first things I see in the morning. It is a constant reminder for why I entered this arena of education.
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While we wrap up the school year in these last few weeks of what is (hopefully) the craziest semester of of our profession, what’s keeping you motivated? Share with me in the comments.
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Happy Monday, teacher friends! ~ Emma
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04/24/2020

I am simultaneously proud and terrified to share that I’ve published my first blog post. It’s about expectations, failures, and starting over. I hope you like it. ~Ashley

https://sites.google.com/view/gradingpapers/blog/i-should-be-grading-right-now

04/23/2020

I sent this picture to for our Random Fandom day. I’m not a good sportser, so I build community a different way.
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During my second year of teaching at SoBoCo, I taught a Mythology Class with the most beautiful group of nerds whom I still love deeply. They already knew all the mythology I was planning to teach them, so each week was a challenge to find new connections and content to keep them curious. One of the many inside jokes to come from that semester was “that’s in Supernatural!” The new objective for the year morphed into searching out mythology in contemporary “texts” and understanding why it was revived or invoked. It. Was. Excellent.
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In honor of that semester of challenge, joy, and growth, I picked up this shirt for casual Fridays. As a teacher, I take pride in connecting with all the different student identities that go through my room, but my Supernatural shirt helps me find my people.
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I know my teacher peeps have signature t-shirts. What’s your favorite fandom connection with your students?

04/22/2020

Before the rest of the semester was thrown into chaos, we had two units left for our sophomores: Medieval Legends and Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, two of my favorite units to teach.
We had to quickly decide how to amend our curriculum when it was announced we would be following Hold Harmless grading and we wouldn’t be returning to school for the rest of the semester.
So, introducinggggg: “Heroes Among Us!” Each week, students are instructed to find and read/watch a story that shows Arthurian traits and conventions. On Fridays, they submit a journal entry on G Classroom describing the story they found. Can you guess what mine was last week...? 🤔
HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban was streaming, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hype up the “hero quest” the characters embark on to save Sirius Black ✊🏻
Ashley and I thought, “What a perfect time to talk about heroes with our students.” We sure do need one right now ✨
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What hero stories can you think of? Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments! ~ Emma
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04/06/2020

Happy Monday, teachers! ☀️
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This is Week 2 of for our district. Our sophomores are continuing their Medieval Legends unit today with “Launcelot du Lake” by Sir Thomas Malory. What a perfect time in society for us to be reading about heroes... we sure do need one right about now, don’t we? 🤔
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If you want to see how we set up our weekly slides, check out our website! We just posted a template example this morning 🤗 Link in bio.
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04/03/2020

✔️Week #1 of
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Yesterday we pushed out a quick survey to check in with our students. We loved their responses so much, we decided to end the week on the same note. Scroll to see our thoughts at the end of our first full week of AMI (Alternative Methods of Instruction) ☀️ What about you? How are you feeling at the end of this week?
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If you’re interested in using this check-in with your students, it’s posted on our website! Link in bio.
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@ Columbia, Missouri

03/30/2020

Today marks the first full week of remote teaching for us... yikes.
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We’re taking things slow. We were recently approved to use .meet, so we’re figuring that out along with our students. Ashley came up with some great expectation slides, we’ll share those in our website soon 💡
What are you using to connect with your students? How’s it going? Do you have any especially awesome norms/expectations to share? Let us know in the comments! 💬
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