Iowa Council of Teachers of English

thoughts and prayers

Rex Muston, Teacher Writer
January 13, 2024

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Guilty or Not Guilty: The Case for Impromptu Teaching

Brandon Baggett, Teacher Writer
November 26, 2023

While attending our Fall ICTE conference, my classroom was managed by a well-qualified substitute teacher. Aside from a short phone call on my way to the conference on Thursday, everything was going swimmingly, or so I thought.  Monday Morning:  I returned to school with the now familiar revitalized vigor of post-conference Monday. Everything seems in order, including the many uncompleted assignments...

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Five Paragraph Death Punch, Revisited

Danae Dieken, Teacher Writer
November 17, 2023

She is so disappointed.  She is also a bit of a judgey know-it-all.  She is me, in my last year of my teaching degree. Her self-congratulatory attitude is in part due to the pride of just writing an essay entitled “Five Paragraph Death Punch” wherein, the five-paragraph essay was word-kicked in its formulaic little baby-teeth using Five Finger Death Punch lyrics. I still love this essay....

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Bubbles Up: A Path Forward

Nikki Smith, Teacher Writer
October 29, 2023

On our first date, my now-husband asked me, what is one thing I should know about you.  I bravely proclaimed: I am a writer.  I remember being proud of saying this. It was, for me, a vulnerable thing to admit. Still is.  I asked the same of him.  Without hesitation, he said he was a “pretty big Jimmy Buffet fan.” This was the biggest understatement. At this point, I had maybe heard two Jimmy...

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Three-year-old Bedtime

Nikki Smith, Teacher Writer
May 27, 2023

Pick a book  (Read 2 pages) I need drink of water Not that book—this book No I have to climb up the chair this way  (Read book 2) I have to see if the moon is there  (Checks clock) (Name every character  On every page) Three-year-old Bedtime   Time for bed Oh look, this book  You forgot to turn off the light, Mommy  Climb in bed    I...

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Outside the Darkened School

Rex Muston, Teacher Writer
April 17, 2023

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