Using Pop Culture to Teach Writing Skills

Nancy Barile has an incredible story of how she uses the show The Walking Dead to engage learners in writing skills and more. Her administration has let her recraft the curriculum around this show with pretty astounding results.  

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Nancy Barile -  Bio as Submitted

Nancy Barile has been a public high school English Language Arts teacher working with kids in Massachusetts for over twenty-seven years.

In 2007, she was named a member of the USA Today All-Teacher Team, and in 2011 she was awarded the Massachusetts Commonwealth Award in Creative Leadership. She is a 2013 recipient of the Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award. In 2013 she was named Boston Red Sox Most Valuable Educator. She was a 2015 Top 50 Finalist for the Varkey Global Teacher Prize.

Nancy is also an adjunct professor in the undergraduate and graduate schools of education of a Boston-area college. Her writing has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Guardian, Ozy, Education Week, the College Board, and Hey Teach.

Nancy is the author of I’m Not Holding Your Coat: My Bruises and All Memoir of Punk Rock Rebellion, which was published by Bazillion Points in 2021. Available at bazillionpoints.com or on Amazon.

Nancy lives outside Boston with her husband Al Barile and Flippy the Beagle.