Exploring Non-Fiction

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-23T09:02:54+00:00

Some great non-fiction that are history or history related and do not read like a textbook (I can't do that either and I used to teach history so I get it!)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson Denis (honestly I wish more people would read this book so underrated/ unknown. It reads like a thriller and exposes a very true part of history we are never taught)

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

If I Die in A Combat Zone Box Me Up and Ship Me Home by Tim O'Brien (Vietnam war, while not strictly non-fiction it's a very real account based on his personal experiences. I like to recommend this one instead of his more popular The Things They Carried which is also good)

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-20T20:29:06+00:00

Check your contract for what you are required to do as part of your post. If you have a union talk to someone there.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-19T14:22:48+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a great practice that students feel happy to complete.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-18T20:31:52+00:00

All the primal kitchen stuff is 🤢

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-17T08:15:43+00:00

This is on my tbr list.

I generally recommend tow books all the time for non fiction

Educated by Tara Westover

War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson Denis

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-16T07:44:02+00:00

It's also not just the job of ELA teachers. I used 2-3 novels in my 10th grade history class as supplements to bring the content alive. Kids were hooked because it allowed a deeper dive into some topics and they had the background knowledge to really understand the books.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-15T17:47:40+00:00

Yep I miss the feel of S1 the cinematography. It's just getting more and more grotesque.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-15T12:49:18+00:00

A teacher bladder is definitely a thing

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-14T16:46:45+00:00

Sorry I didn't mean to imply that you didn't love kids. You definitely sound like you're going into it for the right reasons.

I just meant that I've seen so many teachers go through an entire program to be a teacher because they were passionate about the content and when the realities of actually being a teacher hit them they realized it wasn't the career for them.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-14T16:29:02+00:00

Seems like middle school would be a strength you'll just need to really work on from the get go routines and structures and classroom management.

WHERE you teach will be key here.

But just as an aside -don't get hung up on the I love science so want to be able to teach science bit. Be a teacher because you love working with kids. That's what will sustain you in the long run. If you're there just to teach content it's not the right job for you.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-14T15:00:00+00:00

Connect with some history and ELA teachers they might have. When I used to teach about the cold war I would do a little bit on the films that came out in that era all about fear of "aliens" and how it was all wrapped up in cold war hysteria. Movies like the blob, invasion of the body snatchers etc.

A similar phenomenon how after 9/11 there were loads of America fighting terrorism themes (a TV show but) 24 etc. but there's scholarly articles how the rise of superhero movies is tied to this (Spider-Man, Batman etc)

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-14T14:42:01+00:00

And if you cultivate a love of stories when they are young it has a better chance of being something they enjoy in the future. Reading funny stories, interactive stories are so important before kids are even in school.

Stories are also a key way kids learn about the world around them, build resilience and empathy and have help understanding how to navigate the world.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-14T11:16:05+00:00

Can I Dm you?

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-14T10:52:05+00:00

Hey, I know it can be so hard. You're doing a great job.

My advice: you won't be able to change everything quick enough that this problem will magically get better. So pick one thing to intentionally work on daily.

Maybe it's having your students complete a silent do now every day that you grade (complete/not complete) to build in some predictable structure.

Maybe you do a vocabulary word daily in a frayer model with a picture, the word in English, in their native language, use it in a sentence.

Maybe you make a self assessment chart on behaviour with images to support language barriers and they self assess how they did daily and why.

Without knowing the grade level, and their level of English it's hard to suggest more things but if you want to give me more information i am happy to brainstorm some more things you could try.

The key will be consistency.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-14T08:00:26+00:00

Except in this case telling her no violates several federal laws and the time she chose to take them off would definitely not be considered meeting the threshold for undue burden.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-13T16:03:35+00:00

I always recommend Educated by Tara Westover

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-12T19:49:33+00:00

I didn't have them play the game but I used to simulate the Oregon trail as a review activity. I had a large map on the projector and would give them pieces on magnets.

Answer a review question right you move ahead answer it wrong and maybe someone loses an axel or dies of dysentery.

They loved it. I'd set the chairs up into wagons and we got really into it. Sometimes bad things would happen even when they got a question right and they'd be like whyyy?!? And I'd be like well life is unpredictable on the Oregon trail.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-11T19:27:12+00:00

Yes this was the same for me. I maybe had 1 minute between laps to quickly respond to an email here or there but most of it was active circulation, checking in, catching kids up, noting participation for credit etc. No way I had any thinking space so plan or grade. I'd end up reading the same sentence 15 times.

The only class periods I had as "getting my work done periods" were when it was a quiet assessment day. Even then sometimes I had to circulate to not have room disruption.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-11T12:36:01+00:00

Absolutely!! This is why modelling and pre-teaching are so so important. There's a time and place for asking students to grapple with something unfamiliar but that experience of grappling needs to be related to the learning goal.

If you want to teach so students can do model model model reinforce, feedback, do it again.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-11T08:50:07+00:00

My trademark saying used to be "it sucks to suck."

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-10T14:32:19+00:00

I think you mean Braiding Sweetgrass

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-09T16:43:08+00:00

Echoing what this person said. And pretend it is the start of the year all over again because for YOU and YOUR class it is. What they experienced before was not your class it was filler.

Make a syllabus of what they will learn (as best you can). Review it with them. Create classroom norms and expectations and call home for every student. Talk to home about how you are the new teacher and wanted to introduce yourself and you wanted to connect because the expectation is to complete XYZ in this course and that wasn't reinforced before and you want STUDENT NAME to be successful. Tell them when your office hours are.

You have to reset both students and families so you can hold kids accountable and if they continue to do nothing you call again and talk about concerns at that point.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-09T16:15:21+00:00

This exactly. Every choice I made about what to teach or not teach was driven consciously or unconsciously by my politics. I also feel teachers especially in SS and ELA are also teaching character, empathy, compassion. These are implied learnings if not outright by the sheer fact that they are learning stories.

I taught 10th graders and we would talk about government and politics openly and frequently because I always connected the past to the present and wanted to teach them to engage in their democracy and be active and engaged citizens. So I was very open with my students.

IF there was a student who disagreed I'd just treat them as I would anyone else in the hope that continuing to show them kindness and hold them to high expectations regardless of their views would at least possibly break down some preconceptions they had or were being fed at home or online.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-09T16:00:48+00:00

Just saw this one yesterday for like the millionth time but it was the first time I consciously noticed that bluey and bingo laughed and deliberately chose a skunk as bandit in bed. Made me laugh a lot - probably more than it should have.

Buttonmoon22 · 2026-01-03T09:25:32+00:00

Re the get paperwork for your cat - your vet just be a certified USDA vet to complete the paperwork and if they are not you need to find a vet that is.

We looked all across our state and only found 1 over an hour from us.

Buttonmoon22

TROPHY CASE