English Teachers Chat

For today I made a simple graphic highlight a number of 2022 books. These are all books I've read this year that I can't get enough of.  For some students, sometimes that familiar book is just the next step to push them towards something fresh.

This is part 3 of my series Becoming a FITT Reader.  Be sure to read  Volume 1: Frequency here  and Volume 2: Intensity here . This is going to seem like a no brainer, and in theory it is. But theory and practice are two different things. In order for students to become FITT readers, they need to read for periods of time that make sense. The Power of the Binge and Giving Students Momentum There was a time in our lives where the idea of binging on media was viewed as wasteful. Now, it's seen as a badge of honor. The advent of streaming services gave us the power to binge watch television shows in a way my 90s childhood self could never imagine. If you were lucky, a marathon session of your favorite show was on (Real World Miami anyone?), but even that was met with commercials and no ability to pause. With that noted, it's funny how different we treat television and books.  Binging is pervasive in our culture across all age groups. c/o CivicScience We all know the teacher (and go

I feel like we're not talking enough about genre and authentic voices. When I'm helping students pick out a new book, my first question is, "what are you interested in?" For many of my (and here I'm going to super gender stereotype here) female students, they can point to other texts they've enjoyed. They enjoyed Yolk or Grown or Instructions for Dancing, all amazing texts which can lead to a 100 other recommendations: Off the Record, Love is a Revolution, Kiss & Tell.  But other kids (and often my male students) will say, "I am looking for fantasy, dystopian, war or historical fiction." And while I have plenty of those titles. Many of those titles are from White authors, and I noticed a lack of other voices: Black, Hispanic, AAPI, Muslim, Jewish, etc. that explore these rich genres. I'm sure that's more to do with publishing companies than the authors themselves, but nevertheless, here we are. Underrepresented but more than worthy of our

Yesterday I released my Best Books of 2021 . Today I return with my best YA books of 2021. All these books were published this year and worth all your attention. I hope you find sometime to read and love. If you want an easy one page printable, click here . 1. Love is a Revolution by Renee Watson I could go on and on about how much I love this book. It manages to capture teenage love and teenage apathy like none other. It’s in a class all its own this year (it also appeared on my best books of the year overall). So many books are trying to be so grand, but sometimes the most intimate stories are the most important ones. This is why I read YA fiction. 2. Off the Record by Camryn Garrett If they decided to turn Harvey Weinstein’s story, serial rapist and atrocious human being, into a YA novel, it would be this. But the book is so much more as you meet Josie, an aspiring journalist, who is thrown into the adult world. These are books that teens need, but everyone will be better for readin

Well... it's that time of the year again. As of this writing (and still 10 days to go), I've finished 164 books. A record for me. But I'm here to tell you what made my top 10 adult books for the year (hopefully within the week I will publish my top 10 YA books). If you would like a one page printable copy, click here . So without further ado, here's the list.  1. The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.  The Prophets isn’t just the best written book of 2021, it might be the best written book of the millennium. Beautifully written but also heart breaking, this genre bending novel recalls Morrison at almost every turn, and in the process tells one of the most gorgeous and heart breaking love stories of all time. This is the story we need in 2021. A true reckoning of our past. 2. Bewilderment by Richard Powers After The Overstory, all attention is on Richard Powers. But Bewilderment is so different. Rather than a sprawling narrative, we’re given something far more intimate. A stor

In this episode of English Teachers Chat, I talk to four educators to take a closer look at surviving, what they wish we knew and how Covid-19 affected the state of education. Thank you to my special guests: Adam Pease , Libo Valencia , Rachel Rosen and James May. Music this episode was sourced from io and Bensound royalty free music. The opening and closing music is Garden Music composed by Kevin Macleod and the interlude music is Better Days by Benjamin Tessot. Tails32x · ETC Episode 5 - Surviving the Surf Zone Daniel Valentin teaches English 9, Humanities, and American Dream at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading Floaters by Martin Espada and is listening to The Sentence by Louside Erdrich . He wants his students to feel empowered through books. Follow him on Twitter  @DanielJValentin