We can add some emotional value to almost anything we teach, which helps memory and learning. We are learning about semicolons, colons, and ellipses. My tenth graders wrote thank you cards to a teacher of their choice, incorporating each of these. ✅joy ✅gratitude ✅punctuation ✅learning ☺️

It brings me a lot of joy to feel inspired by a poem, to create and teach a lesson, to share that lesson, and then see someone like Marcus adapt and mold it to an entirely new objective. Let's keep sharing here on #EduSky #TeachersofBluesky!

I invited seniors to write poems using terms from their thesis research today (inspired by lessons ideas in Poetry Pauses by @thevogelman.bsky.social ). This led to, among other things, the joyful hour-long pursuit of similes based in computer jargon (e.g. "as basic as plain text"). Win 👍🏻

Happy to be working with teachers at Quincy Public Schools today. What an energizing group of professionals 👏🏻😁

This week I got to see Blackwater Pond, the one Mary Oliver loved and wrote about often. No joke, a friendly fox watched us the whole time and it made me want to write poetry 🦊

Last chance to grab this webinar before it goes back in the vault! May poetry be part of what sees us through the dark days 😊

End of October in PA really are something on a windy day 🍂🍁

Day 5 of Poetry Pauses for Hope: I think you'll love this one by Dean Atta, and check out how you can have kids interact with it too :) movingwriters.org/2025/10/31/p...

November 1 is the last day to grab this webinar to carry you and your class through the dark days of winter with #poetrypauses that do not appear in the book 🙂 #ncte #movingwriters #poetry #writing movingwriterspd.gumroad.com/l/darkdayspo...

🌱All week on Moving Writers: Poetry Pauses for Hope. Today: What can an old poem about a new moon teach us about hope? #poetrypauses #NCTE #hope #writing #elateachers movingwriters.org/2025/10/30/p...

A highlight of fall semester classes every single time 🍁🍂 The fall leaf poem 🙂 First comment will have the basic lesson outline. #WriteOut #nwp

🌱All week on Moving Writers: Poetry Pauses for Hope. Today, a short poem that reveals how complicated hope can be, and a two-sentence essay exercise that helps students get to the crux of their thinking succinctly. #poetrypauses movingwriters.org/2025/10/29/p...

🌱All week on Moving Writers: Poetry Pauses for Hope. Today, a short poem that reveals how complicated hope can be, and a two-sentence essay exercise that helps students get to the crux of their thinking succinctly. #poetrypauses movingwriters.org/2025/10/29/p...

Last week, we were discussing, in 11, how English teachers are “merchants of doom,” leaning on the heavy material because it gives us more to explore. And here’s Vogelsinger sending this one out for us to take a break from that!

Literally just opened up my current unit plan and edited a plan for next week to include this

Some #APLit projects, reading and interpreting “Very Old Texts” and presenting reading and research to each other science fair style. I love seeing the variety of books they selected!

🌱All week on Moving Writers: Poetry Pauses for Hope. Day 2: a recipe poem, easy to integrate as a quick mentor text into any unit of study where thinking about the nature of hope is helpful. movingwriters.org/2025/10/28/p... #poetrypauses

As we talk Of Mice and Men Chapter 6 today, I can think of so many different "Hope is a thing with _______" options... (Check out this post/series!)

🌱All week on Moving Writers: Poetry Pauses for Hope. It's a series of tiny lessons, easy to integrate, that get students contemplating and writing about hope. The first poem? Emily Dickinson, of course, with a twist you may not have tried before. #poetrypauses movingwriters.org/2025/10/27/p...

Join me for some perfect poems and short writing activities to get us through the dark days. It's 10 fresh ideas in 30 minutes, and once you've got the link, you can watch it at any time that's good for you. Department leader? Go for the group rate and enjoy the learning experience together :)

When we study Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, it’s always a pleasant counterweight to design our own thoughtful extended, metaphors around roads and then reflect on the process. It reinforces the skills of reading for figurative meaning, but from a different angle.

Exciting news! The days are getting darker 😔 How about a replay of a 30 minute webinar with 10 Poetry Pauses for the Dark Days? Webinar includes a link library to every poem mentioned + use tomorrow lessons to see is through the dark. movingwriterspd.gumroad.com/l/darkdayspo...

Quick, easy, positive, and skill-based. 1. After a spell of reading, write one sentence about what you love about reading. (First two pics) 2. Apply a recent skill (semicolon + conjunctive adverb in this case) to modify one of the sentences, punctuating it perfectly. (Last two pics)

Almost all "solutions" you are hearing in education right now, particularly from folks not in the classroom, do absolutely nothing to address how students actually feel about their education.

I got a creative burst today to write up a few new poetry pauses that extend concepts from the book, are incredibly easy to integrate into lessons you already teach, and emphasize hope . . . . something kids and teachers all need to sustain. Figuring out the best way to share them, I'm excited!

For “Dress Like A Teacher Day” these two aspiring English teachers went literary…and maybe poked some fun at my nerdy Tshirt collection 😂

Reading Oedipus Rex and Othello back-to-back in #APLit makes for such fascinating conversations about tragedy, literature, and life.

When you’re explaining directions for an assignment, and you turn around to find a student has started building a fortress out of saltines 😱😂

Eighty percent of NYC’s solar power comes from school buildings. Great model for elswhere and anothe reason to fund school infrastructure fully: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

This would be amazing!

A question worth asking in any ELA classroom: what was your story of yourself as a writer going into this school year? Students had SO many different things to say...

Since the release of Artful AI, I've been able to talk publicly on several podcasts about the book, its inspiration, content, impact, and goals. Here is the complete list of podcast episodes on this topic so far . . . and I'll add to it as time goes on!

Since the release of Artful AI, I've been able to talk publicly on several podcasts about the book, its inspiration, content, impact, and goals. Here is the complete list of podcast episodes on this topic so far . . . and I'll add to it as time goes on!

The Seconday Schools Writing Center Association (SSWCA) is excited to have such amazing keynote speakers for our annual conference this March at UConn. Proposals due Nov 3! @janerosenzweig.bsky.social @northeasternu.bsky.social

Second block today was “Stall Day” when students could stall the start of class by brining donations in coins for Mini Thon. Took me 20 minutes 😁👏🏻

Writing center directors/ writing instructors/ leaders and everyone with a thought about the future of writing instruction and feedback, join us this March at UConn, Storrs! Proposals due Nov 3rd. For more info SSWCA.org @thevogelman.bsky.social @mraleosays.bsky.social

Can you guess what we are reading I. #APLit right now based on the word cloud?

Yes, and we punish and further limit neurodivergent processors. Learning this from my own son’s experiences too.

I had a strong opinion on this but it’s getting stronger as I learn from my own sons’ experiences: If fear of AI cheating means all major graded writing in high is completed in class, we deprive students of so much opportunity for students to develop as writers.

I think the number one thing secondary teachers can do tomorrow with #AI, regardless of their stance, is demonstrate how to reason on AI usage in a real-time demonstration. Model how an adult thinks about AI interaction, output, value, and boundaries of academic integrity.

🎙️ Excited to share our latest TEPSA Talk podcast episode with Brett Vogelsinger! Dive into the world of literacy, AI, and middle school education. Discover how creative writing can ignite passion and how AI can be a tool for growth. Don't miss Brett's insights on nurturing young minds. #Literacy

We had a succcessful outdoor writing experience on a beautiful day, practicing our use of imagery ☀️ We planted milkweed and mallow at the edge of the woods as part of the lesson 🌱🦋 #EduSky

If you’re at #PCTELA25 this weekend, don’t forget to check out the pamphlet featuring education books by Pennsylvania English teachers in your conference folder 😃 And have a wonderful time!

Today, I wrote about two truths and a lie about AI in the classroom…I’m here to talk about it + hear about what you are seeing lately too 🙂 #AIinEducation #EduskyAI #Writing #GenAI brettvogelsinger.com/two-truths-a...

My #APLit quickwrite today: Retell part of this myth, showing the timelessness of the ideas. Give every character a smartphone. ed.ted.com/lessons/the-...

I’m happy to report, this went pretty well! 83 minute block 1. Define mood and practice with poem of the day. 2. Practice with annotated read of passage from The Road. 3. Give out seed pods, explain resemblance to the novel. 4. Plant seeds. 5. Write outdoors, crafting a joyful mood.

So we are reading The Road right now in Gr10 and learning about mood. I have some outdoor writing time planned. I gathered these seed pods for mallow and milkweed. Like the novel, they look gray and spent, but contain kernels of hope 🌱 Tomorrow we plant seeds in the wild space by our school.

I’m re-watching The Goldbergs with my kids now that they are teens, and every time the tone shifts from sarcastic to sincere, I get weepy 😭😂 Such a good show! And I’m not sure I ever watched it to the end.

One of my realizations last week was that the classroom was feeling a bit too heavy—in part because I hadn't made enough space for creativity and imagination. After all, how we allocate time is an expression of value, right? Here's what I did this week in response:

I wonder…does imposter syndrome ever stop creeping into one’s mind in the teaching profession? I’m year 23…and somehow it haunted me this week 😣