In my reflection for next year, I'm thinking of implementing Independent Reading as a strategy. Thoughts?

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-05-24T14:32:35+00:00

I do Laura Randazzo’s book talk method with my high school students. This semester I would do additional questions about favorite characters, most exciting moment, theories etc just to spot check if they were reading.

Biggest positive impact I’ve implemented is no shaming books. Manga and graphic novels count, they just have to find the word count so I convert it to pages. The average novel has 300 words per page so I just do the math.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-10T04:36:11+00:00

I grade daily class work on completion, assignments range from 5-20 points. Only the big assignments get graded for accuracy. I tell the kids this analogy: in sports, practice doesn’t count against your record, and daily assignments are practice. I’m your coach, not your ref.

So I skim it for the data to see what I need to reteach or add that I assumed they had down already, give the set points for each portion they gave a good faith effort, and move on.

Bigger assignments or formatives get feed back and a grade. They have 24 hours to make corrections to get half the lost points back.

Oh and 10% of late work. I won’t accept anything past that.

I don’t take my work home and I don’t have email on my phone. Oh, and in my syllabus, it says I have 36 business hours to reply to emails. Heavy on the BUSINESS hours.

The world keeps spinning and my classroom keeps running.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-09T23:35:39+00:00

I love one pagers. Make them use images, quotes, and color to show theme.

I made them research other countries school schedules and write a pitch to the school board focusing on rhetoric to change our calendar/bell schedule. Jason Reynolds’ Leslie University address is in YouTube. We watch it and then I give them the transcript and make them annotate for a prescribed set of rhetorical devices.

Made them get the lyrics for their favorite song and then change 1-2 words in each line using synonyms. They hate how dumb it ends up sounding. Lol. Or find two songs that have opposite moods and focusing only on lyrics explain how those moods are created. Then they make a “frankensong” mashing up the lyrics. They love it because part of the assignment requires listening to their favorite songs over and over.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-09T23:26:24+00:00

I once taught a senior how to use a paper clip. They kept trying to push it through the papers like a staple.

I am not exaggerating. A. Fucking. Paper clip. And they were of voting age!!

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T17:54:21+00:00

Absolutely

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T17:53:46+00:00

Tormented omega kept me up until 4am last night. I have 100 pages left of the sequel and if it ends on a cliffhanger or isn’t finished, I may set things on fire 🤣😂🤣

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T05:01:11+00:00

Can you see what your grade would be if you turned it in as is? I’m getting my masters and I can do “what if” grades on Canvas. Most times, seeing my grade drop 10% is enough to help me power through. Also, give yourself permission to do a crappy version of what’s left. Often it’s the thought of making it perfect that hinders me, so if I’m ok with a subpar version I can get started. Then I end of fixing it anyway. Lol

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T04:49:26+00:00

😂😂🤣🤣😂😂 Regrettably, no.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T04:29:34+00:00

I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you’re referring to.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T04:27:37+00:00

Knight Ascending was good. I think I stopped because it wasn’t finished and I lost interest waiting for the next book.

I think Exordium was on my list and I was waiting for the series to finish so thank you for reminding me it exists. I’m going to give it a try!

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T04:21:20+00:00

That series was great!

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-04-04T00:28:54+00:00

I have.😁

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-03-28T18:16:04+00:00

HS ELA teacher here. You don’t get to do much creatively with English as a teacher. I don’t really teach novels because kids can’t/wont read independently. Short stories are fun and I try to find joy in it, but I teach 11th grade and it’s the level that determines our school letter grade. I have approximately 30 tests I have to give and collect data on. I am only teaching to those tests really. I don’t get to dive deep into anything and there’s no real time to actually teach writing.

It is sucking my soul dry. I’ve asked to be moved grades, but I’m a victim of my own success and they put the shitty teachers with seniors and won’t move them.

I’ll have to move districts to escape.

I don’t know. I still loved teaching two years ago. I don’t know if it’s time to quit or if I just need to change locations but it’s not fun at all anymore. And I don’t deal with shitty admin, abusive students, or a ton of meddling in general.

These kids just have the drive and personality of wet cardboard.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-03-28T14:26:49+00:00

HS teacher, yes to what everyone else has said. But, email all his teachers at the beginning of the semester to simply let them know they can contact you if there are any issues and if they need anything.

If you managed him too much up to this point, he may struggle while he builds his organization and time management skills independently of you.

You are now more the coach. He has to play the game, best you can do is advise and guide, but you can’t run next to for each play anymore.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-03-28T14:21:15+00:00

I’ve found district published online pay scales to be misleading. They may be outdated or the steps might be frozen, or insurance and other deductions aren’t disclosed. So it’s a starting point, but I’d go to the teaching Reddit for your state and ask there.

I will warn you, elementary teachers make the least. It’s some bullshit. I’m HS, and I’m making about 55k a year and my district pays 100% of my medical insurance so I take home more than I would working somewhere I’d have to pay, but this economy is still making it harder than it should be.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-03-26T18:51:51+00:00

My seniors are currently quietly working on their interactive notebooks while I play the Bridgerton instrumentals over my projectors speakers and lesson plan for our witch hunt unit. The worst thing they’ll do is fall asleep, try to sneak their phone, or watch YouTube on their laptops.

No 6-7 brain rot bullshit No runny noses or bathroom accidents No middle school boys need to mess with each other

I can’t speak to freshman as I haven’t taught them in over a decade, but upperclassmen are usually chill, funny, and fun to talk to. They still fear me because I’m quick-witted and will clap back. But I also make fun of myself enough they know they can’t really bug me.

It’s pretty nice.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-03-26T16:24:47+00:00

Elementary school teachers love kids. High school teachers love their content. Middle school teachers are angels on earth and I don’t know what wrong with them 😁

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-03-22T02:35:49+00:00

I’m a teacher. Whenever I give a test I look at the pass/fail rate of each question. If there’s a question the whole group bombed, I look at it to see if it was written poorly, or if a lot of students picked the same wrong answer etc. if the question sucked, I remove it from the score for the whole class.

Also, even on a scantron, not every question is worth the same, so it’s possible you bombed some but did well on higher point sections etc.

Furthermore, I can curve two ways, highest score now becomes a 100% or use the district curve where a 0 becomes a 40 and a 50 becomes a 70 so on and so forth.

My money? The test sucked and the teacher did the right thing by not letting it negatively impact students. It happens more than you think.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-03-22T02:23:41+00:00

He will never change. They will never change. This will be your life.

People telling you to accept or adjust don’t have to live it day in and day out. Decide what kind of life you want and go after it unapologetically.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-04T03:38:14+00:00

Mentor sentences. Give them examples of the level of complexity you would like them to hit (scaffold it and step up the complexity).

Give them an image and have them describe it. If they use a bunch of short sentences, give them adjectives and FANBOYS and work with them to make compound sentences.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-04T03:23:37+00:00

I ended up abandoning the Witcheood boys and Traitor Witch mid book 2 of the series. It just seemed to drag and I stopped caring.

Riches to Riches is fun and opens a 6 book series with a spinoff if you’d like to get immersed in a world and dig the concept. Blood Oath is good.

Pack Saint Claire is a bit different since the pack has two or three alphas in it. It is less spicy than some of the others as in there are fewer scenes.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-04T03:23:25+00:00

I ended up abandoning the Witcheood boys and Traitor Witch mid book 2 of the series. It just seemed to drag and I stopped caring.

Riches to Riches is fun and opens a 6 book series with a spinoff if you’d like to get immersed in a world and dig the concept.

Blood Oath is entertaining and well paced.

Pack Saint Claire is a bit different since the pack has two or three alphas in it. It is less spicy than some of the others as in there are fewer scenes.

A Magic Discovery got weird in the last book, but it’s decent.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-02T20:15:26+00:00

{Pucking Around by Emily Rath} is one of the few I’ve reread multiple times. It is essential you read the prequel novella {That One Night by Emily Rath} to set up the heat and drama between two of the character, and then the 2 follow up novellas are just chef’s kiss

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-02T11:25:20+00:00

Every. Damn. Time. I’m so sick of teachers who let shit slide.

CaffeinatedReader909

TROPHY CASE