reThink ELA Podcast

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Hosted by Secondary English Language Arts teacher Michelle Waters, reThink ELA offers strategies, products, and expert advice to help teachers build student-centered, socially conscious, and real-world relevant middle and high school English classes.

Michelle Waters


    • Feb 5, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 17 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from reThink ELA Podcast

    Arts-based ELA: Unleashing Student Voice and Academic Skills

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2024


    In years past, teachers were seen as the authoritative, all-knowing figure who determined a student's success with their choices of literature, assignments, and tests.  As you might remember from your own school years, this type of power struggle didn't benefit all the students. If anything, many students became less engaged in classroom discussion and viewed […]

    Building Trust in the Classroom: Understanding Black Culture and Overcoming Labels

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2023


    I'm thrilled to welcome fellow University of Oklahoma Ph.D. program student Christine Chapman to discuss some important steps to building trust in the classroom. This topic is especially important to me as a White woman serving diverse communities. I know this topic is important outside of my context since 80 percent of public school teachers […]

    ChatGPT In English Class: Using AI Writers As Thinking Partners

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2023


    How do you feel about using ChatGPT in English classes? I know, that's a loaded question with lots of teacher reactions running the gamut from loving the idea of learning something new to dreading the day students will use this tool to cheat on their writing assignments.  Even if you had a middle-of-the-road reaction, I invite […]

    Going Gradeless: How to Show Evidence of Learning without Ranking and Sorting Students

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2023


    The idea of "going gradeless" in today's traditional schools is a new concept to parents but one that will ensure their children learn instead of simply learning for the sake of passing a test. My guest is Deanna Lough who has taught for the better part of two decades, at both middle and high school levels. […]

    reThink ELA #021: Building School Culture: Observe Your Students to Learn How To Teach Them

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 4, 2023


    How often do you think about the culture of your school, or even your classroom? Is it a place where different opinions are welcome? Or do your students feel like they need to tailor their assignments to please your viewpoint? Andre Daughty has spent many years of his career teaching teachers and administrators about how important […]

    reThink ELA #020: Increase Adolescent Writing Motivation with a Student Newspaper

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2022


    Sticking to your "tried and true" writing prompts can make your workflow easier, but when it comes to adolescent writing motivation, sometimes a change of pace is necessary.  Just because last year's class loved what you presented doesn't mean that this year's class will find the same motivation to share their stories. In today's episode, I […]

    reThink ELA #019: Online Safety Training Is An Important Literacy For Students

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2022


    Note: Scroll down to access the podcast player. As wonderful as the internet is in today's modern world, it also provides a host of threats that students don't understand or don't want to believe can affect them. Online safety training is one area of knowledge that seems to fall upon ELA teachers to dispense, simply […]

    reThink ELA #018: English Teachers: How To Get Your Writing Published

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2022


    Note: Scroll down to access the podcast player. I'm pleased to be joined by a repeat guest today, Dr. Jennie Hanna. You might remember she was a guest on Episode 16 where we talked about how to make military children feel safe and seen in the classroom when so many feel they should recede into […]

    reThink ELA #017: Project VOICE: Showing Students the Relevance of Writing

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2022


    Note: Scroll down to access the podcast player.When it comes to inspiring kids to write, it's one thing for a teacher to praise students for their skills and creativity but it's another thing entirely to SHOW them that they can become a published author. And that's exactly what Project VOICE aims to do. Jamie Hinds and […]

    reThink ELA #016: Understanding the Needs of Military Students in Your ELA Classroom

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2022


    A large part of gaining the trust of a classroom full of students is to get to know them on a personal basis. Yes, it's difficult when you have a hundred or so students parading through your classroom on a daily basis; however, taking an interest in their lives leads to real, authentic learning. So, let […]

    reThink ELA #015: Engaging Rural Students in Your ELA Classroom

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2022


    When choosing literature for your students to read and discuss, there's always much discussion about selecting books in which the students can see themselves. When they can relate to the characters in a book -- due to their environment, character traits, or life experiences -- students become more interested in the larger discussion. However, many teachers […]

    reThink ELA #014: How To Complicate The Single Story In The Literary Canon

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2022


    Teachers around the United States are finding themselves on the frontlines of a cultural battle that has heated up significantly in recent months. Book banning and legislation that seeks to prevent teachers from doing their actual jobs have taken to new levels the historical battles between conscientious English Language Arts teachers and institutions within the […]

    reThink ELA #013: Empowering Student Interests in the Secondary Classroom

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2021


    One of the most important things teachers can do is impact students' lives by creating spaces for them to discover their passions and use their voices. This is integral for student success—especially for students who struggle in the confining spaces many schools create.  My  guest, despite successful leadership in and out of the classroom, found […]

    reThink ELA #012: Connecting to Young Adult Audiences through Real Life Experiences

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2020


    Knowing their reading audience helps authors to craft their books and create their story arcs. Understanding the pain points of their audience and the problems they struggle with the most helps to identify which topics should be included in the manuscript.  Similarly, teachers need to know their students and their background and maturity level to […]

    reThink ELA #011: Getting Students Excited to Write with NaNoWriMo

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2019


    Experienced adult writers are intimidated by the NaNoWriMo project, which entails writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Who thought up such an event when writing is usually a much longer labor of love? Now imagine the faces of 8th graders when presented with this project? A teaching veteran of 30 years, […]

    reThink ELA #010: Fostering Student-Led Discussions with the TQE Method

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2018


      So much scrutiny is placed upon teachers and the classroom these days, especially when it comes to how students are learning critical thinking skills – or IF they're learning critical thinking skills. Sometimes the “old school” ways of teaching simply don't work and new techniques need to be tested. TQE is one such technique […]

    reThink ELA #009: Teaching Grammar In Context

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2018


    Have you ever thought back to when you were in school and how you learned the rules of grammar and how to write? What techniques did your teachers use? Do you find that you're implementing those exact same rules in your own classroom today? Some things bear updating and the ways in which we teach […]

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