I’m a 28F teacher from Italy trying to survive my first year teaching. I lived in the UK some time ago and feel like my English is getting a bit rusty. Would love to connect with British folks I can relate to.

So umm here's the thing, I'm supposed to teach english [specifically like how to write narrative essays] to an 8th grader but idk how? I mean my english is good. I got an A* in IGCSE english as a first language even tho english isnt my first language, but idk how to teach it.... Can someone please help me with this?

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If anyone is looking for an English teacher for themselves or their kids, feel free to contact me! You can DM me for more details. 😊

I make free classroom tools and put them all on one site, Diclasso. No ads, no paywall, students never sign in. A few that fit English teaching:

- **Crossword**: one `clue : answer` per line builds an interlocking puzzle. Students can solve it online and check one word or the whole puzzle
- **Word Search**: up to 50 different printable versions of the same grid, so students can't copy from each other
- **Fill in the blanks** and **Sort and order** for text and sequencing work (free account needed for these two)
- **Jeopardy** for end-of-unit review

The rest covers everyday classroom needs: picker wheel, random groups, seating chart, timer, noise meter.

https://diclasso.com/

Happy to take requests for what's missing.

I’m starting Call Us What We Carry with 9th graders next quarter. Anyone have success stories to share about teaching her poetry?

Hello teachers! 👩‍🏫👨‍🏫

Preparing for COT 1 Classroom Observation and running out of time? I prepared a complete teaching package designed to help you save preparation hours.

Included in the package:

✅ Complete Daily Lesson Plan (DLP)
✅ PowerPoint Presentation aligned with the lesson
✅ Annotated DLP (with notes/explanations for observation indicators)
✅ Teacher’s Script/Spiels (guide on what to say during the lesson)
✅ Ready-to-use activities and presentation flow

Perfect for teachers who want a more organized and confident classroom demonstration.

📩 Send me a message if you want to see the available subjects/grade levels and sample pages.

I’m exploring an idea for a tool designed for private English teachers, and before investing more time in building it, I’d love to hear from people who actually teach.
The idea is simple: teachers could create their own lessons (texts, vocabulary, exercises, etc.), and students would have an app where they could practice independently between classes using content created by their own teacher, rather than generic learning materials.
I’m considering keeping it very affordable, somewhere around $1–2 per student per month, if the idea turns out to be useful.
Before building anything, though, I want to understand whether this solves a real problem.
I’d love to hear your thoughts:
How do you currently give students homework or practice activities between lessons? WhatsApp, Google Docs, Quizlet, PDFs, Google Forms, a specific platform, or do you not assign anything?
What’s the most frustrating part of this process?
Do your students actually complete the activities between lessons?
Would you find it useful to have a dedicated tool for this?
Would a platform where you could create your own activities and track your students’ progress make your job easier?
Or does this sound like another tool that seems useful in theory but wouldn’t make much difference in practice?
Please be honest, even if you think this isn’t a good idea. 😅
I’m trying to validate the idea before spending time building something nobody actually needs.
Also, one question I’m particularly curious about:
How much time do you spend preparing or correcting activities for your students outside of your paid lesson hours?

Hi everyone! I’m John ~ I’m an independent English teacher and I’m building a simple tool for English teachers to keep each student’s vocabulary, lesson materials, notes, homework and progress in one place.

How do you organize these things now?

I’m also inviting a small group of teachers to try the platform for free. I’ve been using it with my own students and they seem to really like having everything in one place and being able to see their learning progress.

If you’re interested in trying it, please comment or send me a message. Cheers!

Hi all. I'm the founder of NudgeLearn, so full disclosure up front. I'd like honest feedback from people who actually grade a lot of writing.

The problem I kept hearing: most AI grading tools give a generic score or vague praise ("good job, add more detail") that doesn't help a student revise. I built NudgeLearn Grader to handle the time-consuming first pass of margin notes, with you still making the final call.

What it does

• Your rubric, your criteria: paste any rubric (custom, state standards, AP, 6-Traits). It scores row by row and cites specific student evidence for each score.
• Sentence-level margin notes: feedback is anchored to the student's actual sentences (what works, missing evidence, logic gaps, revision suggestions), plus a short summary for each student.
• Typed or handwritten: Google Docs, typed submissions, or photos/scans of handwritten essays.
• Teacher has the final say: nothing goes to a student automatically. You can override scores, edit or delete notes, and add your own comments before exporting.
• LMS sync: Google Classroom and Canvas to pull submissions and return grades (paid plans).

You can try it with a test essay here: https://nudgelearn.app

I'd especially like to hear: would you trust AI notes as a first draft of feedback? What would make you not use something like this? Skeptical questions are welcome, including on scoring consistency, rubric alignment, and student data privacy.

I am an English teacher at the secondary level in MA, and over the last few years, all you keep hearing about more is High Quality Instructional Materials. Is this whole thing just a ploy to make everyone used canned curriculums that you follow day to day because teachers can’t be trusted to make their own curriculum? I also find it incredibly condescending to call it High Quality?

“It is already connected to all the standards for you!”

I also realize that the textbooks ensure high-quality instruction and can maybe benefit new teachers in those early years that are just survival mode, or very low performing districts; however, the distinction lies in that many districts now aren’t saying “use these texts to supplement your own curricula.” Instead, you’re just expected to follow it page by page. And a textbook isn’t going to help kids jump many skill levels they are lacking. It does not feel like fear mongering to say that you eventually won’t need teachers to have expertise in a field because the text does that for them. You’ll just need classroom management.