Fear of the Firsts

There are a number of firsts this year, despite it being my ninth year teaching.

Blogging with Students

I love starting new projects, new ideas, and then inevitably they seem to fizzle out as I lack accountability or just lose interest in the project. That’s what happened to this blog.

Failure: It’s Sometimes an Option

While I may not have been posting here, I have at least been writing with my students. So much so that I have a backlog of entries I would like to share in this space, starting with the piece I just finished using classification and division writing. Students started these in-progress writing pieces yesterday and […]

Trying New Things, Failing New Things

It’s first period. I have posted everyone’s name along the wall and watch as they find their spot to hang their latest writing: Where I’m From inspired narrative vignettes. Actually, I don’t watch. My own recently composed piece about getting Icees during the summer with my Papa is posted too. I’m in the circle with […]

Once I Was Seven Years Old…

Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to my new blog. My name is Erica Johnson. Over the course of this past summer (2018) I joined 24 other amazing English teachers at an Institute in Washington, D.C. at the Folger Shakespeare Library. This Institute, called Teaching Shakespeare, changed my life in so many ways. Most of these ways […]