NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo -
ational Novel Writing Month happens every November!

It is a fun, seat-of-your-pants novel writing event where the challenge is to write an entire novel in just 30 days. That means participants begin writing November 1 and must finish by midnight, November 30. The word-count goal for our adult program is 50,000 words, but our Young Writers Program allows participants who are 17 years old and younger to set reasonable, yet challenging, word-count goals.

The only thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The high-velocity approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe- Great resource!

Nik's Daily English Activities

Nik's Daily English Activities - Check out this great blog with post like this...
Learn from and Create Animated Music Videos -

60 Second Recap

60 Second Recap
Eat your lima beans," Mom used to say.

And now that you're out on your own, honestly, are lima beans a staple of your culinary repertoire?

There, in a lima bean, lies the problem confronting the great works of literature. We're all forced to read them in school so we can get good grades so we can go to a good college so we can get a good job so we can forget all about that literature they used to force us to read so we could get good grades.

The 60second Recap aims to break this cycle of canonical irrelevance. We want to help teens (yes, teens of all ages!) engage with literature. We want to help them see it not as some chore to be endured, but as -- dare we say it? -- the gift of a lifetime. How? Through the language of our time -- the language of video. Video that's focused, engaging, informative ... and short enough to hold just about anyone's attention.

15 Free Ed-Tech Resources

Check out these free online resources to use in your classroom! Sites range from speed reading to presentation tools to blogging.

15 Free Ed-Tech Resources

Using Twitter in the Classroom

Six examples of using Twitter in various types of classrooms.

Online Presentation Tools

This site explains 33 online presentation tools. Many are free, but some have a users fee.

Online Presentation Tools

The Follis Files

The Follis Files - A high school English teacher's blog, great resource for most of the novels read at the HS level.

Rare Book Room

Rare Book Room - A virtual library that allows you to not only view but read hundreds of rare and historical copies of books, from Shakespeare to Galileo.

Mr. Burke's AP Lit Blog

Mr. Burke's AP Lit Blog - Great example of an English classroom blog. Look on the right hand side of the page and check out some of the student blogs.

A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like

A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like - For years Lorrie McNeill loved teaching “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the Harper Lee classic that many Americans regard as a literary rite of passage. Check out the rest of the article.

The World's Largest English Department

The World's Largest English Department - A Ning group for English teachers reveals the potential of online social networking to break the culture of professional isolation.
By Elizabeth Rich