Notes from the Inkpot
Writing, teaching, creating - one ink-stained idea at a time.
How to Teach All Summer in a Day (Including Discussion Ideas & Creative Writing Activities)
Explore how to teach Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day” with meaningful discussions, tension-mapping, and creative writing tasks. This post shares classroom ideas, writing prompts, and ready-to-use resources to help students connect deeply with Margot’s story of isolation, empathy, and missed sunlight.
Why Macbeth Is the Only Shakespeare Play I’ll Never Get Sick Of
I’ve taught Macbeth more times than I can count, and somehow, I still look forward to it. There’s just something about the witches, the guilt, the madness. In this post, I’m sharing why Macbeth is the one Shakespeare play I’ll never get sick of—plus some of my favourite creative writing tasks and classroom stories along the way.
7 Free English Classroom Resources I Actually Use (And Still Love)
Seven free English teaching resources I’ve actually used in real classrooms. From creative writing prompts to post-reading tasks, these are my go-to freebies that still hold up, and they’re all ready to download.
How to Teach English Language Skills Using Literature Texts (Free Prompts Included)
Combine language and literature in a meaningful way with chapter-by-chapter creative writing prompts. This post explores how you can build writing skills while deepening students’ understanding of the texts you teach - plus, you’ll find lots of free resources to download and try right away.
Teaching 1984: Activities, Experiments, and Real-World Connections
Teaching 1984 isn’t just about exploring a dystopian novel, it’s about showing students how power, control, and surveillance shape the world around them. In this post, I’m sharing how a real-world classroom experiment helped my students experience Orwell’s warnings firsthand, plus practical strategies for breaking down the novel’s complex themes in an engaging, accessible way.
Why I Swapped Traditional Discussion Questions for Roll-the-Dice Boards - And Never Looked Back
Tired of classroom discussions that fall flat? I was too - until I swapped traditional comprehension questions for a simple roll-the-dice game that completely transformed the way my students talk about literature. These boards turn discussion into something engaging, student-led, and genuinely thought-provoking. Here’s how I use them, why they work, and how you can try them in your classroom too.
Why I Still Teach Romeo and Juliet (Even Though I Hate It)
I’ve taught Romeo and Juliet for over a decade—and I still hate it. But that’s exactly why it works. Here’s how I use student debates, modern rewrites, and creative twists to turn eye-rolls into engagement (and yes, we watch the Leo version).