Being An Indie Novelist is Tough, But Rewarding

It’s time to rant. I haven’t had serious time to work on the second book in my science-fiction series because I have been swamped with the day job, and swamped with my side jobs. I’m a high school English teacher by trade, and at the start of the year I had things under control.  However,

5 Ways to Stay a Writer

This quote by one of my favorite writers (Harlan Ellison) is irrevocably true.  How many students have I taught to write over the years who most likely do not use that skill now that they are adults?  I’m sure the number is more than I’m willing to admit. I consider myself a pretty prolific writer.  I’ve

Why Is It So Difficult To Write Well?

I’m nearly halfway through the backstory material for my current WIP.  I’m writing a series of books tentatively titled The Five Rims Series and try as I might, I’m going to create a Tolkienesque place, a (most likely) vain attempt to give my setting a richness that will hopefully translate to a sweeping epic.  I’m just

An AP Teacher’s Thoughts on AP

I have thought for some time about Advanced Placement and its worth in an education system that is increasingly using the internet to educate students.  I think more and more about the worth of Advanced Placement courses, as to whether they are useful anymore, and recently I have been going through some soul searching about

Oklahoma Tornadoes: Victims In Need

I am sure many of you reading this blog have seen nothing on the news but the tragic destruction of Moore, Oklahoma.  However, there is a community hit by an EF-3 tornado the night before these terrible events who are being missed by the media entirely. I live and work in the Little Axe community,

The Truth About Being a Public School Teacher

Sometimes former students will pop by my classroom and inform me that they are pursuing a teaching degree, and when I ask them why they usually tell me that “so-and-so” inspired them or they just want to be a positive influence on students or something along that line.  I congratulate them, and then I sit

The 90-10 Split

Yesterday I posted a blog post about my thoughts on why I assign homework.  I had some very interesting responses and some of you even suggested some rather rash (and humorous) ways to deal with the problem of students who simply choose not to do homework assignments. Today I thought I would like to offer

Common Core vs. NCLB: Damage Done

Across the U.S., the Common Core guidelines are being rolled out for use in classrooms, requiring students to read and write on a level higher than ever expected of them.  Students in the lower grades will benefit from this if the Common Core guidelines are followed throughout her formative and high school years. However, I

Feeding Squirrels: Taking AP Students to Do Research at a College Library

Yesterday I took my AP students to the University of Oklahoma Bizzell Library to do research for their critical perspectives paper.  Their assignment is to read a canonized novel of their choosing and then write an analytical research paper viewing that text through a critical lens (i.e. Marxist, Feminist, New Historical). Each year I take a group