The blog that actually hands you the thing.
No fluff, no 1,800-word windups. Every post is real talk plus a done-for-you resource for grades 6–12 ELA — newest first.
Your free first-week kit: what’s inside
Your Free First-Week Kit: What’s Inside
Your entire first week, done for you — free through August 10. Exactly what’s inside the kit, piece by piece.
Why Teachers Buying Their Own Supplies Has to Stop
Spending quietly looks like love. But every dollar you cover is one no one else has to. Be generous and still make the need visible.
The First-Day Script, Minute by Minute
The first 10 minutes of day one set the tone for your whole year. Here’s the script, minute by minute — exactly what to say and do.
5 First-Week Procedures That Run a Class Itself
“Classroom management” is mostly just procedures, taught 40 times. The 5 worth teaching first — and how to make them stick.
What to Teach Your First Week Instead of Curriculum
The first week isn’t for curriculum — it’s for building the conditions that make curriculum possible. Here’s what to teach instead.
We’re Teaching Kids to Make Funny Pictures with AI. We Could Be Teaching Them to Think.
Most ‘AI literacy’ stops at the surface. A free 5-day set built to make grades 6–8 actually think.
Emergency Sub Plans for When You Wake Up Sick
Waking up sick shouldn’t mean building a sub plan from the couch with a fever. What a no-prep secondary ELA sub day needs — plus a free one.
How to Tell if a Student Used AI to Write an Essay
Why AI detectors are unreliable, who they hurt most, and what actually works instead.
How to Teach AI Literacy in the ELA Classroom (Without Banning ChatGPT)
Banning ChatGPT doesn’t work. What AI literacy actually means in middle and high school English — and three no-prep moves to start tomorrow.
The First Week of School Doesn’t Have to Wreck You
Your whole first week — syllabus, parent letter, day-one plan and more — built in about 60 seconds with the free First-Week Survival Kit.
Things No One Warns You About Week One Back
Empty supply closets, rosters that change four times by Friday, 32 names you can’t say yet — and how to stop winging it.