The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | 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!
Latest episodes
Jan 26, 2022 • 19min
145: Teaching Annotation just got Fun
Want to teach annotation skills in a way that's memorable and creative, instead of boring and easily forgotten? Check out this episode for four creative ways to help your students develop their own unique annotation styles. Want support along the way? Join 20,000 more creative teachers collaborating inside my Facebook group, Creative High School English. More of an Instagram person? Let's connect! I'm @nowsparkcreativity. Find the show notes and tons of free classroom resources at http://nowsparkcreativity.com.
Jan 12, 2022 • 25min
144: 3 Flexible ELA Units for an Omicron Winter
Going remote in your ELA classes this winter, or think you might? Try planning one of these flexible, engaging units, so you're ready for anything. We'll be exploring digital poetry, making tiny podcasts (don't worry, I'll explain what I mean), and adapting the genius hour format for this moment. By the end of the show, you should have lots of engaging, creative ways to guide your students through this omicron winter. Find the free resources in the show notes at www.nowsparkcreativity.com.
Dec 29, 2021 • 42min
143: What We Can Do about Teacher Demoralization, with Doris Santoro
The problem facing teachers today will not be solved by self-care. Let's talk about the real issue - demoralization - and strategies that can make an impact to help teachers stay in the profession and enjoy their work again. My guest for this episode is Professor Doris Santoro, of Bowdoin College, author of the book, Demoralization: Why Teachers Leave the Profession they Love and How they can Stay.
Dec 14, 2021 • 18min
142: Choice Reading: Building a Reading Culture in your English classroom
Building a reading culture in your English classroom is a project that never ends, but luckily it's so much FUN. There are many ways to keep books in the spotlight, and in today's podcast episode, I'm going to share ten of them to help you find a few that feel right for your ELA students. Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. 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!
Nov 30, 2021 • 21min
141: Setting up your ELA Classroom Library
Find out how to create a classroom library you (and your students) will love. Learn how to source the books, organize your system, and make use of enticing visuals that make your reading space appealing to students. Sign up for Camp Creative: Ignite your Choice Reading Program (a totally free five-day mini-course) here: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/ignite
Nov 15, 2021 • 38min
140: Every Student can Sketchnote, with Sylvia Duckworth
Want to teach your students to apply critical thinking to their notetaking? Sketchnoting creates more engagement and retention, but not every kid comes to it naturally. In this interview with Sylvia Duckworth, find out how to teach all kids how to sketchnote, not just the ones who self-identify as artists.
Nov 3, 2021 • 31min
139: We Moved to Bratislava, Here's what it's Like
If you're interested in teaching abroad, love travel, or are just curious what it's like to live in a country that's only been a country for a few decades, this episode's for you! If you're here strictly for the creative teaching ideas, I hear you. Don't worry, they'll be back in the next episode.
Oct 26, 2021 • 20min
138: Hexagonal Thinking with Brave New Teaching (Bonus Episode)
Ready to bring hexagonal thinking in as a creative discussion strategy for your students? Find out how in this podcast episode. You'll be amazed at the creativity and critical thinking that comes with hexagonal thinking. In today's episode, we're turning the usual format around. Listen in as Amanda Cardenas from Brave New Teaching interviews me about hexagonal thinking, bringing her own unique and creative perspective as an A.P. teacher in Chicago to our conversation.
Oct 19, 2021 • 18min
137: Creative ELA Activities to Pair with Any Novel
Looking for flexible, creative English activities to go with your next whole class novel unit? Find them here! In today's episode, I'm welcoming four surprise guests to share their favorite flexible go-tos for any ELA novel unit. Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. 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!
Oct 5, 2021 • 23min
136: Creative Real-World Research Projects in ELA
Research is such a vital skill in ELA, but it's not always easy to get students to buy in. Let's explore some fresh takes on the traditional research paper. In this context, we'll talk about Dave Perkins' idea of "The whole game at the junior level." Find out how this simple concept can transform any unit, and change the way your students see their work in the classroom. I'd love to connect! Come say hello on Instagram, @nowsparkcreativity or join the fun in my collaborative Facebook group, Creative High School English.
