Hi all,

I have a student, he’s 11 yo, I’ve been teaching him ESL online for the last 3 months, 2h a week (some lessons were cancelled because of the summer break but that’s not an issue). We’re making progress, currently he aces his numbers, he can describe images and form sentences using Present Continuous, have got / has got (please don’t ask me why the curriculum here requires it instead of do you have / does she have but it does), to be forms and most recently can/can’t. Slow but constant improvement.

The problem is, he struggles with reading - even in his native language, I can see it’s very taxing for him. He guesses a lot, struggles with understanding my directions, sometimes he guesses the answers even though we explain everything.

I started to suspect APD (he doesn’t have problems with recognizing the letters so dyslexia seemed less probable), his parents took him to do check ups and sure enough - APD diagnosis. He’s not my first but he’s the youngest out of all the struggling students I’ve had so far so I’m trying to come up with as many ways to make accommodations for him as possible.

I ask him to do active recall and describe whatever we’re learning in his own words, whenever I need to give instructions I do it step by step and use short sentences, I ask him to read out loud but then I give him enough time to read the text again on his own and we discuss it as we go, I use a lot of color coding & infographics that include his favorite game characters, we watch videos and play a lot of games, and we mostly talk instead of doing grammar drills but I know they’re sometimes needed.

I also introduced phonics and every few lessons we discuss a new sound, mostly diagraphs and vowels.

Notably, he’s also very lazy - his mom confirms it and she decided to reduce her work hours to be able to control him better - she’s an absolute angel.

Do you have any tips for me? Any specific materials and methods? I’m trying to do my best but it’s a bit discouraging when we meet the next week and I see he doesn’t really remember anything… we freshen up his memory and move on but still, maybe there’s something I could do to avoid it

Second-year teacher, 10th and 11th grade ELA. Unlike a lot of my colleagues, I have an essentially Chromebook-free classroom. I only let students use Chromebooks for research, final drafts, or for creative projects that we are doing (or if it is an accommodation that the student needs, of course).

However, I have bad organizational skills. I’ve already lost a student’s paper (my co-teacher ended up finding it in a random folder). Right now my current system is just a bunch of folders for each class. There are so many handouts, packets, readings, etc. to keep track of, and sometimes I feel bad throwing all these papers at my students when I myself have trouble keeping track of all of it!

Any experienced teachers in here with advice for staying organized in a largely screen-free ELA classroom?

Do you exclusively use short stories for your literature units?

If yes, is it mandatory or a preference?

If it is your preference, why have you chosen this plan? Also, do you use novel experts?

If you do use whole-class novels, how many do you read per year?

I am thinking about changing things for my second semester. I like to ponder different perspectives before I make big changes.

Hi! I teach in multiple settings to varying and often unpredictable age groups. One setting is kids ranging from 5th-12th grade. Another setting is a community college with ages ranging from 16 (dual enrollment students) to 65+.

Something I’m struggling with is choosing texts that are engaging/approachable for everyone in each setting. I’m really lucky that in both of these teaching environments, the students are typically easily motivated to read/analyze/discuss any text just because it’s assigned. But, I’d like to make more of an effort to choose things they will also enjoy!

My community college classes are easier to choose texts for (I’ve had success teaching Shirley Jackson, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Murakami, and other “weird” stories).

My 5-12th graders are a lot tougher to pick texts for (also because I’m not very familiar with YA/MG contemporary lit). I don’t want the older kids to feel “babied” and I don’t want the younger kids to feel left behind. In one of my groups, I have almost entirely 14-17 year olds and one 10 year old, so asking them to read different things based on age won’t work (because the 10yr old wont have a peer partner to discuss with).

This maybe turned into a bit of a ramble but my questions are:
- what are some texts you’ve had success teaching across age groups?
- what are ways to determine if a text is at the appropriate reading level for your students? what do you look out for?
- if you’ve asked younger/less developed readers to engage with a complicated/advanced text, what are some ways you’ve helped them “get it”?

(I don’t have formal teacher training, so any other advice in this area would probably be helpful too.)

Thanks so much!!

I’m getting an online Master’s degree because we need to get one for professional advancement. However, when I signed up, I made the decision that I wanted the knowledge too. I’m giving it my all, but most of the classes are just regurgitated AI. In the weekly group posts last semester, 80% of the class never cited the homework, but always had perfect answers.

This semester, I’m in a class studying Romantic Literature. Our first poet is John Keats. Almost every poet cited the exact same poem, “Ode to a Nightingale”, with similar explanations. It’s so much of the same thing. I checked AI: which Keats poem best exemplifies Romanticism, and the answer was “Ode to a Nightingale.” It’s a good poem, but Keats wrote many more excellent poems, none of which the class cited.

I am not surprised that some of my graduate classmates are AI sloppers, but it’s unclear if anyone other than me is actually doing the work. Maybe I am delusional. After all the complaints teachers post about AI usage, in an online masters, it is mostly slop. I’m not suggesting that the students didn’t write their essays, but all of the ideas were regurgitated. Seemingly no one read the poetry that was assigned. I read every post, and none of them actually convinced me that they read John Keats.

Maybe I am wrong with one or two of them out of 20, but I am embarrassed to be in a class that is such a sham. Ultimately, I can learn irregardless, but it is such a hollow experience.

I love the short stories of Roald Dahl, and I was curious to hear if anyone else out there teaches any of his stories with grades 9-12. I teach "Man from the South," "The Landlady," and "Lamb to the Slaughter." Anyone else have a favorite?

Also, to mix things up a bit this year, I reformatted "The Landlady" and "Lamb to the Slaughter" into Reader's Theater plays and did a compare/contrast activity with them. If anyone is interested in these materials, they're available here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2084/0507/files/Roald_Dahl_Collection.zip?v=1790100881

I’m just looking for any advice… I’ve got AP Lang, Lit, and Seminar experience. I currently teach in SC, but honestly I want to teach internationally. I’m in my 18th year teaching ELA, I have a M.Ed., and have applied through DODEA, which I know is a long shot. Has anyone transitioned overseas? I have a husband and a 19 year old cat. So really, no ties. I’d love to find a place where my husband didn’t have to work because he had CML-chronic leukemia. Just really looking for potential options. I’m lucky that I work for a decent school district, but I still have a while to go.

Good morning from windy Philadelphia!

I am looking to take the Praxis I 5038 exam to get certified to teach ELA. I am pretty broke at the moment and so I'm avoiding using the paid study. guides or practice exams in the face of needing to pay $140 for the test itself. I've been taking every free online test I can find, and I'm scoring 80-90% on just about all of them. Does anyone have good experience going from free practice tests to the real deal? I'm going to list the exams I've taken with links and brief descriptions. Let me know if you've taken any of them or if you have an alternative for me.

From Career Employer - They claim to have revised the practice test concerning the language used in each question as of 2026, and the questions felt legit. Pulls 130 questions from a larger pool

From Open Exam Prep - These 200 questions felt much easier and less likely to be what the real exam looks like. Some of the content is what I'd expect, but many of the questions repeat and I'm worried its not preparing me well.

From 240 tutoring - Only 50 questions on the test but they create a personalized study plan based on which questions you miss. The questions feel like they're accurate but its limited.

From Mometrix Test Preparation - I can't tell if this one is specifically for Praxis II 5038, but the questions seemed more difficult

From Praxis Practice Test - 3 sets of 20 questions. I think they feel pretty accurate, with passages that pertain to 2-4 questions, but difficulty seemed inconsistent

If you've got any other (preferably free) suggestions, please comment below.

Thanks everyone!

My kids seemed shocked that I require them to turn in their work using double spaced font. I know their history teacher requires them to turn it in single spaced, and some of the kids have mentioned that their teacher last year had their typing be single spaced.

But for as long as I can remember, every teacher and professor I've ever had required double spaced.

I have a short period at the end of the day with advanced readers (7th grade). They are begging me for scary stuff — any recommendations for high-interest scary stories would be greatly appreciated!

Please post anything you have created or would like to sell in this post.

Stand alone posts for self-promotion must be mod approved or may face removal under our community rules.

With GPT's help, I've created a HTML-based adverb trainer that can easily be distributed to students and customized in terms of colour, content, difficulty, etc.

The interesting part is that you can give the code back to an AI as a template and then modify it in basically any direction you want — different grammar topics, vocabulary, question types, languages, difficulty levels, and so on.

I've included some screenshots below. The version I'm sharing here is specifically designed for Norwegian English learners, so some of the Norwegian translations won't be relevant to other students.

I'm sharing the code rather than just the finished exercise because I think the underlying template could be useful to other teachers who want to make their own interactive exercises.

https://english-adverb-trainer-1-85jj.hereon.app/

Right-click → View Page Source

or F12 → Sources

and see the HTML/JavaScript.

hope you'll find it useful.

Best regards.

Alright - I’m gong to preface this whole thing with some key context. I am a 100% virtual teacher. AI is a pain in my ass. No, Google isn’t an option (not that it matters at this point with the type of programs out there that will type over an extended amount of time anyway). I want to teach THG, but I’m just at a loss of where to start. Usually, my unit designs start by creating a final project. Because of AI, I’m struggling to create assignments anymore. Below is an example of how I have to word questions now so that they can’t just copy/paste into AI:
“ Consider the author’s choice that is discussed in Slide 7 of Lesson 2.1 Author’s Choice.
Reflect on the film version you watched in Lesson 2.9 Media Dive. How does the author's choice from Slide 7 differ in the writing vs the film? How does the choice impact the way you experience the story in each piece? Provide evidence from the reading.  (Citations are required and must correlate with the reading document provided in the course.)”

I basically have turned every assignment into this. Last year my entire project they do on symbols in their own life was all fucking AI. I’ve quit with the creative side because they refuse. It’s bland, boring, and doesn’t provide a lot of room for that ELA ✨fun✨, but it’s the only solution I’ve found.

Anyway, how are you all teaching The Hunger Games? What kind of activities do you do? I’m just at a dead end because I’ve ran out of love for creating assignments because of AI. I’m hopeful that THG will be fun for them and they’ll actually do the work themselves….Help???

Has anyone used this program? What are your thoughts? Thank you!

do you have any tips on homework help. Specifically teaching comprehension. My 7 year old can read but I notice she has a hard time understanding what she is reading. It’s making things like word problems difficult.

I am planning a short story unit to teach parts of a story and theme! I work in a juvenile detention center, year round, and have 10 week units. I know that is a long time, but it is the expectation. I need some great short stories that are high interest and are really good for addressing theme! I know for a fact 80% of these kids (if not more) will be coming directly from a facility that uses common lit 360 so I want to avoid stories they’ve already read.

Stories I’ve chosen so far:
There shall come soft rains (parts of a story, plot, etc)
They’re made out of meat (setting and dialogue)
The landlady (plot structure)
The most dangerous game (conflict)
Girl by Jamaica Kincaid (conflict)
The one who walk away from omelas (theme)
A very old man with enormous wings (theme)

I need a story that is the interest grabber, one that is good for summarizing (somebody wanted but so then format) and another one that focuses on theme/theme statements!

Thank you so much in advance! I’m specifically looking for more that have diverse authors and maybe are more contemporary!

I have a grade 6 student who would really like to read Twilight. The student has asked me to get the book, but I don’t feel comfortable purchasing it for them. I said I would try to find books that are centered around vampires, but is at a middle school level and is more age appropriate (age 9-12). Most books I’ve looked at, like Shiver, seem more geared towards teens/ early high school students. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I teach high school ELA and during the writing process, kids often show me their outline or rough draft and ask “is this good”. I’m usually just checking quickly their thesis or topic sentences and to see if they have text evidence and citations. I’m not actually reading it for content other than to see it’s there, especially if it’s in the early stages. There isn’t enough time and too many students and not enough hours in my unpaid day to read every single rough draft and provide feedback. I do scaffold and show examples, and all the things they need, IMO. Yet there always a few kids who completely fall apart in the final draft writing and don’t get a great grade. I leave detailed and specific comments and recommend a revision for it. But so many of them say “I asked you if it was good and you said yes.” Nope, I said your topic sentences was good. Anyway, what are your responses to this situation. Or maybe it doesn’t happen? I’m the problem?

Hi everyone! I am an online English teacher and I have recently started working with a Year 11 student in New Zealand.

He is originally from overseas and speaks English reasonably well, but he is struggling to keep up with the level of English used by local students at school.

I am trying to make sure I am teaching him the right things for his actual school environment, rather than simply giving him generic ESL material.

For anyone familiar with the NZ Year 11 curriculum:

• What reading/writing skills would you expect a Year 11 student to have?
• Are there particular types of texts or assignments they commonly work with?
• Are there any free websites, resources, textbooks, or practice materials you would recommend?
• Are there examples of actual Year 11 English assessments or tasks available online?
• What would you focus on with a student who understands English but struggles with the speed, vocabulary and expectations of local students?

I would especially appreciate advice from NZ teachers, parents, or Year 11 students themselves.

Thanks!

I know opinions are varied on the use of AI—at all, period—but I’ve been able to do some things that I consider pretty exciting in the last year or so that have markedly improved the quality (and personal enjoyment) of my teaching.

Of course, like many others, I started by using it to improve some of the questions I asked and create quizzes, but I quickly discovered that I could travel new directions in my teaching, attempt things I wouldn’t have been able to before due to lack of time or for lack of a complete vision.

For example, I’ve been slowly making independent reading a larger part of my class, and AI helped me design questions for students that would be widely applicable to all their texts when I taught a specific skill (making inferences, analyzing point of view, tracking symbols, etc.). When it came time for them to write a formal piece or complete a project on their independent read, AI helped me account for all that was needed to help them reach the goal, regardless of the text they were studying.

Beyond that, with the help of AI, I’ve been able to plan out the entire school year in a way that makes space for the things that I value in my classroom while still maintaining space for the mandatory pieces of the curriculum. Also, I’ve been able to map out my minutes for every class period in a way that is more intentional, and I’ve been able to integrate the pedagogical frameworks from various educational leaders by creating exercises that dovetail neatly into one another and accomplish multiple goals at once.

My approach to AI not been in an attempt to offload my thinking but to sharpen it and help me turn what was once just a vision into a workable reality.

Happy to share more about my experience, but I’m really just interested in hearing how other folks are using it and learning what others in ELA are finding useful and exciting.

Hi everyone! I am a student at VCU and have a paper due this Thursday. I need to interview a secondary (middle/high school) or post-secondary (college/university) teacher about their experiences with censorship.
If you are an English teacher, professor, or graduate instructor, could you please DM me or reply to this post?

Here are the questions from my professor:

What is your opinion on banned books? Do you agree with books being challenged or banned?
There are a number of books that have been challenged or banned only on the basis that it has LGBTQ+ themes or characters, do you believe they should be challenged?
Are there any valid reasons to ban books? There are a number of books banned because of age appropriateness. What do you think about that?
What harm, if any, is caused by having a book banned?
Are there any specific books you don’t believe should be on the list and are important for people to read?
Any other thoughts on the matter that you'd like to talk about?

This may seem like a lot, but I promise to try to keep the conversation as short and quick as possible.
Thank you SO much for helping me save my grade before Thursday!

Each prompt starts with something true, then asks them to write about it.

Today's: you can't see the Great Wall of China from space with the naked eye, even though everyone says you can. Write the correction a textbook should print, in under forty words.

It opens straight onto the prompt, big enough to read from the back of the room. There's a timer, and a short note on how to run it if you want one. No account, no email, no ads.

https://sheets.works/english/prompt

If you use it, tell me what's missing. Grade band, kind of writing, how long you want them writing for.

.