The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA
Betsy Potash: ELA
Want to love walking into your ELA classroom each day? Excited about innovative strategies like PBL, escape rooms, hexagonal thinking, sketchnotes, one-pagers, student podcasting, genius hour, and more? Want a thriving choice reading program and a shelf full of compelling diverse texts?
You're in the right place!
Here you'll find interviews with top authors from the ELA field, workshops with strategies you can use in class immediately, and quick tips to ignite your English teacher creativity.
Love teaching poetry? Explore blackout poems, book spine poems, I am from poems, performance poetry, lessons for contemporary poets, and more.
Excited to get started with hexagonal thinking? Find out how to build your first deck of hexagons, guide your students through their first discussion, and even expand into hexagonal one-pagers.
Into visual learning? Me too! Learn about sketchnotes, one-pagers, and the writing makerspace.
Want to get your students podcasting? Get the top technology recs you need to make it happen, and find out what tips a podcaster would give to students starting out.
Wish your students would fall for choice reading? Explore top titles and how to fund them, learn to make your library more appealing, and find out how to be a top P.R. agent for books in your classroom.
In it for the interviews? Fabulous! Find out about project-based-learning, innovative school design, what really helps kids learn deeply, design thinking, how to choose diverse texts, when to scaffold sketchnotes lessons, building your first writing makerspace, cultivating writer's notebooks, getting started with genius hour, and so much more, from our wonderful guests.
Here at The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, discover you're not alone as a creative English teacher. You're part of a vast community welcoming students to their next escape room, rolling out contemporary poetry and reading aloud on First Chapter Fridays, engaging kids with social media projects and real-world ELA units.
As your host (hi, I'm Betsy), I'm here to help you ENJOY your days at school and feel inspired by all the creative ways to teach both contemporary works and the classics your school may be pushing. I taught ELA at the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade levels both in the United States and overseas for almost a decade, and I didn't always get support for my creativity. Now I'm here to make sure YOU get the creative support you deserve, and it brings me so much joy.
Welcome to The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies!
You're in the right place!
Here you'll find interviews with top authors from the ELA field, workshops with strategies you can use in class immediately, and quick tips to ignite your English teacher creativity.
Love teaching poetry? Explore blackout poems, book spine poems, I am from poems, performance poetry, lessons for contemporary poets, and more.
Excited to get started with hexagonal thinking? Find out how to build your first deck of hexagons, guide your students through their first discussion, and even expand into hexagonal one-pagers.
Into visual learning? Me too! Learn about sketchnotes, one-pagers, and the writing makerspace.
Want to get your students podcasting? Get the top technology recs you need to make it happen, and find out what tips a podcaster would give to students starting out.
Wish your students would fall for choice reading? Explore top titles and how to fund them, learn to make your library more appealing, and find out how to be a top P.R. agent for books in your classroom.
In it for the interviews? Fabulous! Find out about project-based-learning, innovative school design, what really helps kids learn deeply, design thinking, how to choose diverse texts, when to scaffold sketchnotes lessons, building your first writing makerspace, cultivating writer's notebooks, getting started with genius hour, and so much more, from our wonderful guests.
Here at The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, discover you're not alone as a creative English teacher. You're part of a vast community welcoming students to their next escape room, rolling out contemporary poetry and reading aloud on First Chapter Fridays, engaging kids with social media projects and real-world ELA units.
As your host (hi, I'm Betsy), I'm here to help you ENJOY your days at school and feel inspired by all the creative ways to teach both contemporary works and the classics your school may be pushing. I taught ELA at the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade levels both in the United States and overseas for almost a decade, and I didn't always get support for my creativity. Now I'm here to make sure YOU get the creative support you deserve, and it brings me so much joy.
Welcome to The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies!
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 4, 2025 • 7min
381: What if We're thinking Too Small When it Comes to Short Stories? (And Sometimes, Not Small Enough)
I never met a short story I liked back in high school. If I was going to read, I wanted to READ. I wanted to get caught up in the plot, get to know the characters, inhabit the action, spend some time in another world. I certainly didn't want to finish half an hour after I began. No matter how lovely the language or innovative the miniature plot. My eyes just drifted over short story sections at bookstores and libraries like they weren't there, and I honestly can't remember the name of a single story I read in high school that has stayed with me. I know, I know, I should start my podcast with a more chipper intro. But here's the thing - I've got a new take on the world of short stories. Yes, I could talk to you about the stunning language of Hemingway short stories I discovered in grad school. (Here's looking at you, "Hills like White Elephants"). Or I could share Ursula LeGuin's unique Giver-in-miniature, Those Who Walk Away from Omelas (though you might have a little trouble keeping everyone serious during the paragraph about orgies). I could even dig into Poe, that intriguingly murky figure, with his loveably creepy Raven, and how well he lends himself to escape rooms. But I've shared about popular classic short stories before. And reviewed popular contemporary collections for teens too. Even given you a walkthrough of designing an escape room for Poe. Today, my aim is a bit different. As Camp Creative: Your Shiny New Short Story Toolbox, my summer Pd session gets closer (you can join us free here), I've been thinking a lot about different takes on the short story. Flash stories, audio stories, verse stories, graphic stories, multigenre stories. What if we added THESE to our short story toolbox? Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Grab the free Better Discussions toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
May 28, 2025 • 8min
380: The Easiest Last Day in ELA (Community Favorite)
Last year, at this time, I was preparing to move from Bratislava to California when I released the episode we’re revisiting today, all about the easiest way to approach the last day in ELA. And it turned out to be the most popular episode I’ve ever released, with more than 25,000 teachers tuning in. So it seems only fitting that as the end of the year approaches once again, and my life is ONCE AGAIN in boxes, preparing for our move on Thursday for a very new and exciting job for my husband in the Midwest, I would share this episode one more time. I hope it will make your last day of school a fun, creative, LOW-STRESS day that gives you a chance to say goodbye to your kiddos in a way that feels meaningful and relaxed. Lighthouse members, you'll find the last day stations in your seasonal section under "Spring." For folks in search of my version of these stations on TPT, here they are: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Last-Day-of-School-Stations-for-ELA-13423108 Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
May 21, 2025 • 14min
379: 6 ELA Review Activities for a Strong Finish
A few engaging review activities for ELA come in handy around this time of year, as the calendar takes over and students pop off to random awards ceremonies, spirit events, and slideshows. Sometimes you see them for one day in a row, sometimes two, but getting in a groove is definitely a challenge! So, in case you're in search of creative review activities that will get students looking back over all that they've learned before a final project or exam, or just before heading off into the summer horizon, here are six. I'm going to base them on a fun review choice board I made for The Lighthouse seasonal section. So, Lighthouse members, be sure to snag it if you like the sound of all this! And if you're not in The Lighthouse yet, it will be opening up in June for new folks, so be sure you're on my email list so you don't miss the invitation. Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Get my popular free hexagonal thinking digital toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
May 14, 2025 • 9min
378: Improve Student Evidence Analysis: Meet Mr. Skeptical
When it comes to evidence in their argument papers, students have a tendency to mic drop way too soon. "Here's my evidence, BOOOOOOOM!" you can almost hear them saying. Because right after the evidence, they move on. Oops. That's not what we want, and I bet you've written "be sure to analyze this evidence and explain how it proves your point" a few (hundred) times. So what do we do? How do we make the idea MEMORABLE that students must analyze their evidence before moving on? There are a lot of helpful tricks and acronyms floating around out there - the quotation burger, "R.A.C.E." and "P.E.E." for example. And I think those are helpful bases from which to build. But this week on the pod, I want to try a humorous, real-world twist that can complement any of these. Something I hope will be memorable for your students. Something you can reference with a laugh and keep students interested. Meet Mr. Skeptical. Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit. Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
May 7, 2025 • 10min
377: Teaching Students to Write an Argument Introduction with Easy Puzzle Pieces
Sure, there's no one right way to write an argument paper. It can be three paragraphs, nine, or even seventeen. It can be loaded with research. It can be full of voice and personal anecdotes. It can be intensely academic, with a formal objective perspective and thirty-two sources cited with MLA. We want our students to understand the rich palette of tools available to them, and mentor texts, varied writing assignments, and encouragement to try new things are all so important. But so is a place to start. Just as I think the 5 paragraph essay isn't dead, because we need it sometimes for skill foundations, I think a clear and simple formula for introductions can be really helpful for students who are struggling to write and organize a coherent argument. Honestly, it's the base I used for my English papers through my B.A. AND M.A. in English literature, and the one I made sure all my students knew how to use when they needed it. It's the foundation for more complex options. So today, I'm going to talk you through it. Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Get my popular free hexagonal thinking digital toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
Apr 30, 2025 • 12min
376: Gamifying Argument Basics
I have to admit my kids have got me fully invested in "Is it Cake?" At some point in England last year, someone begged for us to watch the show while we ate green pesto pasta on the couch after a long day of hiking in the New Forest, and I said sure. It was the beginning of our "Is it Cake?" era. We've gasped, we've squinted, we've cheered. We all love trying to tell which one is a purse and which one is a cake, and we've all exclaimed in SHOCK over those cake-based faux-leather laces. All of which is not really an ad for the show, but just my introduction for today's idea for gamifying the study of thesis statements. Because you guessed it, we're all about to ask ourselves... IS IT A THESIS? Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Grab the free Better Discussions toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
Apr 23, 2025 • 10min
375: Try this Engaging Swift-Inspired Prompt with any Text
I miss the Eras tour. Even though it hasn't been that long. My daughter is requesting Wicked songs and Katy Perry in the car all of a sudden, instead of our usual Taylor Swift-a-thon. But I haven't forgotten the joys of the Swiftiverse. And today I want to share a prompt you could use with any poem, short story, or novel that comes from Taylor's music, specifically her approach to bridges. Links Mentioned: Watch "Diary of a Song" from The New York Times about Taylor Swift's Song "Lover" (the key section begins at 6:52): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEeWmItgdxA Read "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu: https://gizmodo.com/read-ken-lius-amazing-story-that-swept-the-hugo-nebula-5958919 Short Story Unit for "The Paper Menagerie": https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Short-Story-Unit-for-The-Paper-Menagerie-13421406 Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
Apr 16, 2025 • 15min
374: 5 Top Poetry Activities Worth Trying
It's poetry month, and that means it's time for me to share as many poetry activities, poetry projects, and poetry workshops as I can muster over here! Today, I'm going to walk you through a toolkit of creative poetry options for your ELA classroom. We'll start with one of my favorite introductory activities for any poetry unit, poetry collage, and then go full steam ahead through poetry one-pagers, blackout poetry, great performances and verse texts, I am From poems, a colorful poetry annotation activity, and more! Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
Apr 9, 2025 • 22min
373: The Most Popular Books to Teach 9th and 10th Graders (Tournament Results)
This winter, inspired by cool bookish tournament projects by Melissa Alter Smith of Teach Living Poets and Jared Amato of Project Lit, I decided to launch my own English teacher-y tournament. I wanted to know - of the hundreds of amazing books out there - which were working BEST in the classroom for the teachers in our community? After polling over 2000 teachers over in Creative High School English for their favorites in 9th/10th grade (11th and 12th grade coming soon!), I landed on 16 great titles and we've been voting ever since. Today on the pod, I'll be sharing the top titles and some of the comments and rationales teachers have shared along with their votes. If you're looking for a new book for your curriculum, or you're curious what other teachers are focusing on in theirs, today's show will help! See the links below for comments and voting from teachers throughout the tournament (additional voting happened live through Instagram stories which I can't as easily share): The initial poll calling for titles for the tournament The Round of Sixteen: Long Way Down vs. The Book Thief Animal Farm vs. Romeo and Juliet Night vs. Macbeth Fahrenheit vs. Of Mice and Men The Odyssey vs. The Lord of the Flies Speak vs. The House on Mango Street Dear Martin vs. Born a Crime The Firekeeper’s Daughter vs. The Poet X The Quarterfinals: Long Way Down vs. Lord of the Flies Night vs. House on Mango Street F451 vs. Born a Crime Romeo and Juliet vs. The Poet X The Semifinals: Night vs. Long Way Down Poet X vs. Born a Crime The Finals: Night vs. Born a Crime. If your podcast player doesn't support links in the show notes, you can find the full show notes with graphics and links at nowsparkcreativity.com. Thank you to everyone who participated in the voting and shared your thoughts and experiences! Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit. Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
Apr 1, 2025 • 32min
372: Teaching Long Way Down? Flash Verse, Colorful Character Analysis, and Outside-the-Box Discussions
If you’re teaching Long Way Down (and ready for some Long Way Down lesson plan ideas!), let me just start by saying “YAY!” It’s a reader-maker, an incredible book you can teach in a short time with a high impact. Today, I’m going to be sharing some of my favorite ideas and resources for you to pair with this book. We'll talk about discussion formats, project ideas, Jason Reynolds-themed multimedia waiting around the web, and a creative writing pairing that I think you're going to love too. Heads up, as I’m sure you’re aware, this book does have some language. You may need to give a heads up to parents, depending on your school community. But you can, at the same time, mention the Walter Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Printz Award, Newberry Honor Book Award, etc. Maybe throw in the fact that the Library of Congress named him the national ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Here's a quick peek at the visuals available in the FULL BLOG POST: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2025/04/long-way-down-lesson-ideas.html. Discussion Option: Hexagonal Thinking Discussion Option: Silent Discussion on the Walls Activity Option: Flash Verse Creative Writing Activity Option: The Open Mind for Character Analysis Links to Explore: One example of conversations happening in Creative High School English about Long Way Down in our Book Brackets Dear, Dreamer documentary about Jason Reynolds Long Way Down graphic novel opening There was a Party for Langston read aloud Ain't Burned all the Bright trailer Jason Reynolds on working with artist Danica Novgorodoff Long Way Down Curriculum
