drvan
218 Followers
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
About the store
I have over 20 years teaching experience in high schools, adult ed, university and private tutoring. I have also taught at learning centres for middle school and high school-aged students.
My background is in English Language Arts and Art History, incorporating cultural studies and literary theory. Like many English teachers, I teach short stories, novels, Shakespeare, poetry, grammar, essay writing, media studies, and career preparation and planning.
Read more
Store categories
All resources
Filters
Grade
Resource type
Audience
William Blake's "The Tyger" (Tiger): Inquiry-Based Approach (Critical Reasoning)
The process of understanding and bringing meaning to poetry instills fear in many of our students. Oftentimes, when students merely look at a poem, they immediately decide they cannot understand it, even before they read through it once. This lesson uses the Inquiry-Based Learning model and critical thinking/reasoning skills. Students are first presented with a Wordle(TM) image (the jumbled words of the poem). Students are asked to spot any "word patterns" in the jumbled text of the poem. As
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts, Poetry
Example How to Write a Literary Paragraph (using Budge Wilson's "The Metaphor")
How do you teach effective writing? You model it, of course! After teaching students the basic form of an effective literary paragraph, I have found that the act of writing often still remains mysterious to them, like a code they are quite unable to crack though they have the cypher lying in front of them. If, however, you demonstrate those tools by showing them examples of effective writing, using relevant and real-world texts, they can use the examples as models from which to hone their craft
9th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Short Stories, Writing, Writing-Essays
What To Do When You Don't Understand A Poem: 20 Tips & Tricks for Reading Poetry
I use this lesson/PowerPoint at the start of every poetry unit with my students. It offers up practice and achievable tips and tricks for what students can do to better understand poetry, in particular when they encounter a poem that gives them trouble. Included with the 20 Tips and Tricks in PowerPoint format, there are also accompanying teaching notes. These notes provide examples, offer fuller explanations, as well as pedagogic rationales that will more easily "sell" these tips and tricks t
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts, Poetry
Bullying Lessons: Anti-Bullying Day / Pink Shirt Day
This is a 35 page fully editable Google Document. Included herein are four lessons (in four different Google Documents) explicitly connected to bullying (what it is, who is involved, what you can do to stop it). The method of delivery is in the form of articles for discussion. I use these articles either when there is a tie-in with other anti-bullying subject matter (either Anti-Bullying / Pink Shirt Day, or a short story, novel, or current event involving bullying). This is also a great
7th - 12th
Civics, English Language Arts, Social Studies
Showing 1-4 of 4 results
About the store
Experience
I have over 20 years teaching experience in high schools, adult ed, university and private tutoring. I have also taught at learning centres for middle school and high school-aged students.
My background is in English Language Arts and Art History, incorporating cultural studies and literary theory. Like many English teachers, I teach short stories, novels, Shakespeare, poetry, grammar, essay writing, media studies, and career preparation and planning.
Teaching style
My philosophy of education centres on interdisciplinary studies and the development of critical reasoning skills. I believe that as modern life becomes increasingly complex and interconnected the need to teach how all subject areas interact is ever more important. As such, I habitually infuse my lessons with visual and popular culture, demonstrating how the material is relevant to students’ lives and thereby making it more accessible. Similarly, I contextualize the source material to its socio-political milieu to facilitate learning while students uncover how a text’s meaning changes over time.
Awards & shining teacher moments
Outstanding Teaching Practicum Award
My own education history
B.Ed., B.A., and M.Ed in School Counselling.
Additional biographical information
I'm a nineteenth-century boy, stuck in a twenty-first-century body.
TPT is the largest marketplace for PreK-12 resources, powered by a community of educators.
IXL family of brands