Roxanna Elden's Blog, page 11
March 6, 2018
This is Your Brain on Figurative Language: Behavioral Science Offers a Whole New Way of Thinking about Metaphors and Similes
You know what a simile is, right? A metaphor? If you’ve ever sat through high school English, you can probably join me in this explanation. A simile is a comparison that uses “like” or “as.” A metaphor is a comparison that does NOT use “like” or “as.” Now that we’re all on the same page, though, I... Read more »
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9 Great Quotes About the Adolescent Brain from BEHAVE, by Robert Sapolsky
If you’ve ever taught middle school or high school, or raised a teenager – or, for that matter, been a teenager, these quotes will explain the sometimes-frustrating, sometimes-inspiring, often-perplexing behavior of teens and pre-teens. The quotes are from Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, by Robert Sapolsky. I’ve taken inspiration from this... Read more »
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March 5, 2018
How to Edit Humor You’re Planning to Read Aloud
This post is part of a free, 6-week humor writing course. Today’s focus is editing standup comedy routines – or anything you plan to read aloud or perform. The editing you do for work you plan to read aloud is different from the editing you do for other writing. Mechanics like spelling don’t matter as... Read more »
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March 4, 2018
Free, Six-Week Humor Writing Mini-Course
This is an email version of one my favorite courses: The Art And Science of Humor Writing. One of my favorite topics is what makes things funny, and I’ve been lucky enough to teach humor writing as both a creative writing course through the Miami Book Fair and as a high school English teacher rewarding... Read more »
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February 26, 2018
Three Theories of Humor: Relief, Superiority, and… Surprise!
This lesson is part of a free, six week mini-course on humor writing. It offers an overview of three popular theories of humor: relief theory, superiority theory, and surprise theory. These theories are useful for understanding what makes things funny. Some of them date back to early philosophers. Most people find them to be a useful starting... Read more »
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November 19, 2017
A Guide for the Slightly Freaked-Out Family Members & Significant Others of New Teachers
An instructor’s rookie year is one of stress and high stakes – so much so that many teachers admit to crying in the car that at some point during their first year on the job. Ever since an NPR story about this phenomenon discussed my free, one-month series of emails meant to coach these teachers through... Read more »
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November 4, 2017
Sign Up Five Friends. Win Six Signed Books.
Time to celebrate. The holidays are coming, which means a much-needed chance to plug your mental batteries into their chargers. On my end, I’ve been writing some new material I’m excited to share in 2018, so it seems like a good time to try my first-ever book raffle. Here’s the plan. Anyone who gets five new people to sign up... Read more »
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October 26, 2017
Teacher Time & Energy Are Finite Resources
Two of the most finite resources in education are teacher time and energy. If you want to pay for something high quality, you know you need to find the resources in your budget. It helps to think of time and energy in the same way. Just like money, time can be borrowed. It can be wasted,... Read more »
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October 13, 2017
How to Slow Down Your “Teaching Treadmill”
New teachers often hit the ground running at the beginning of the year, pushing harder in response to each challenge. What they can’t do today they over-promise for tomorrow, committing themselves to pizza parties, nightly parent phone calls, and behavior management plans that require hours of after-school paperwork. Each of these notches the treadmill a... Read more »
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July 27, 2017
Table of Contents for SEE ME AFTER CLASS
This is the table of contents for See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers. I do workshops on all of these topics – and combinations of these topics. To inquire about speaking availability and fees, please email roxannaelden@gmail.com. What This Book Is . . . and Is Not The Ten Things You Will Wish Someone Had... Read more »
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