Want to love walking into your ELA classroom each day? Excited about innovative strategies like PBL, escape rooms, hexagonal thinking, sketchnotes, one-pagers, student podcasting, genius hour, and more? Want a thriving choice reading program and a shelf full of compelling diverse texts? You're in the right place! Here you'll find interviews with top authors from the ELA field, workshops with strategies you can use in class immediately, and quick tips to ignite your English teacher creativity ...
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Truth for Teachers is designed to speak life, encouragement, and truth into the minds and hearts of educators and get you energized for the week ahead.
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On this week’s mini-episode, let’s talk about how to build an audio assignment in early in the year without feeling intimidated. Maybe you joined me for Camp Creative last summer and you’ve got alllll the student podcasting background, or maybe you’re new to the topic and feeling a bit wary. Either way, this episode is for you! Let’s walk through h…
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323: This I Believe (As My Life Changes)
7:52
7:52
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
पसंद
7:52
We moved this month, and it wasn’t one of your quick moves. We did one of those once, from one cabin to the one next door, carrying our furniture and baskets of stuff across a soon well-worn path through the woods. But no, this one was an international move across four flights and nine time zones, with some of our stuff going by shipping container …
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EP309 Why humans fall for misinformation & creative ways to teach information literacy skills
38:06
38:06
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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38:06
Even young students can learn how to understanding and combat misinformation, and it's a key information literacy skill in 2024. In this episode, I'm talking to Melanie Trecek-King of Thinking is Power, because I love how her approach to the topic of misinformation is characterized by compassion and empathy. Melanie emphasizes that everyone is susc…
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322: A Super Simple Way to Learn Names
5:25
5:25
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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पसंद
5:25
On this week’s mini-episode, I want to talk about learning names, and my easy trick for mastery. It took me many years, but finally, after a year in which I had a Kalina, Karina, Ekaterina, and Katrina, I figured out a plan that really worked. I hate not knowing students’ names. It stresses me out, big time. Maybe you’re the same? The worst is when…
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321: Jason Reynolds doesn't write Boring Books
19:38
19:38
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
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19:38
Jason Reynolds' website headline reads "Here's What I Do: Not Write Boring books." How great is that? As with everything he does, he seems to be speaking directly to the young people he's always trying to reach. There's a reason The Library of Congress chose him as the national ambassador for young adult literature. Last year I created an Instagram…
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320: A Simple Go-To for Better Discussions
3:40
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बाद में चलाएं
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3:40
On this week’s mini-episode, I’m sharing the coolest discussion warm-up I’ve ever learned, which I picked up at the Exeter Humanities Institute one week after my first year of teaching and the same week that I met my husband. You’re going to love it! As you know if you listen to the podcast much, my favorite discussion method is called Harkness, an…
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319: Got Phone Problems? Help for a Distracted Generation, with Angela Watson
38:24
38:24
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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38:24
The first time I really understood what flow meant I was barefoot in salty sand, building a beach sculpture in Mexico alone in the sunshine. Two hours seemed to disappear in moments as I gathered water-smoothed scraps of painted tile and bright shells and arranged them into swirls and towers underneath the cliffs. Take a second here and ask yoursel…
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EP308 How (and why) schools should support neurodivergent educators
47:46
47:46
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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पसंद
47:46
Yes, we’re talking about accommodations FOR TEACHERS… I recently asked educators on social media if neurodivergent staff were being offered any support, and folks had a LOT to say! In this episode I’ll share: What we mean when we talk about neurodivergence Why neurodivergence isn’t a deficiency, just a difference What teachers say about accommodati…
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318: Try This with your Teacher Budget
6:12
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बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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6:12
On this week’s mini-episode, I want to give my answer to a question I see all the time in our Facebook community, Creative High School English, and it’s this: What’s the best way to spend a teacher budget? So let’s dive into five great options. . Classroom Poster Printing Over the years I’ve seen a lot of wonderful classroom poster creation from fe…
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317: Classroom Design with Real Impact (from the Archives)
19:03
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19:03
Today I’d like to share one of my favorite episodes from the Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast archives. In this special episode, I invited five creative guests to give their take on impactful classroom design. This back-to-school season felt like the perfect time to share it again. I’ll be back with a full episode on Thursday, but at the moment I’m…
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316: Easy Ways to Connect with your Department
4:10
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बाद में चलाएं
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4:10
On this week’s mini-episode, I just have a very quick idea for you and it’s this. As back-to-school hits, it’s easy to immediately become isolated in your classroom. You’ve got a million to-dos for your space and your students. But the school year is going to feel better if you feel connected to the teacher across the hall, the teacher next door, a…
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315: The Back-to-School Independent Reading Kickstart
19:18
19:18
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बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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19:18
Back-to-School season is the perfect time to set up your reading program for success throughout the year. Heading into the school year with a well-organized library, a plan for routines like First Chapter Friday and Book Trailer Tuesday, a kickoff book tasting, an appealing book display, and a regular time to read will help so much in inspiring you…
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EP307 Creating conditions for transformation (with Elena Aguilar)
32:34
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बाद में चलाएं
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32:34
"Transformative change means feeling different, having different experiences every day, not just little changes that feel like a band-aid." These are the words of today’s guest, Elena Aguilar, an instructional coach whose latest book is called Arise: The Art of Transformation Coaching. (https://amzn.to/3Srseot) Through her book and our conversation…
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314: How to Plan toward an Assessment
6:51
6:51
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बाद में चलाएं
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6:51
On this week’s mini-episode, I want to answer a question from our community about lesson planning. Here it is: “How do you plan? I’m struggling to put together a series of lessons that culminate into a bigger assignment. For example, if I want my students to end up writing a persuasive essay, what would I plan to prepare them to write it? Do you go…
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313: Don't Make My First Day of School Mistakes
13:19
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बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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13:19
Maybe you've heard the story of how I almost quit teaching on my first first day of school. Despite the fact that I had spent three months preparing moment-by-moment lessons for fall. Despite the fact that I was wearing my super cool white embroidered top from Bass and carrying my first ever leather shoulder bag. Despite the fact that I had asked a…
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312: Your Stress-Free Back-to-School Night
6:09
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बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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6:09
On this week’s mini-episode, I want to share my top strategy for taking the pressure off you while delivering a great experience for parents on back-to-school night, stations. Back-to-school night, like the first day of school, can be a stressful time. You’re trying to get a lot of information across quickly, and it can feel like the only way to ge…
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If I told you the elective we’re about to dive into has an “awkward party” unit, would you believe me? Well, it does, and I can’t wait for you to learn about it and start planning an awkward party lesson of your own. Today on the show, we’re continuing our creative electives series with veteran teacher Lisa Blake, who's been teaching for 33 years i…
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EP306 How to get TRUE student buy-in for your "no phone" policy (with Ashly HIlst)
27:25
27:25
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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पसंद
27:25
Here’s an innovative way to get student buy-in for your cell phone policy, reduce distractions, and maximize class time. Today you’re going to hear from Ashly Hilst, a secondary teacher at North Clackamas Christian School in Oregon City, Oregon. Ashly has taught high school English for 7 years in both public and private schools. For the 2024 Summit…
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On this week’s mini-episode, I want to answer a question from our community about reading in class. Here it is “ Hi all. Next year my middle school will be implementing a 45-minute every-other-day reading block for all students. All teachers (ELA or not) will be required to cover the class. I am wondering…what you do with it…” In today’s episode, I…
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309: Exploring Modern ELA Mediums (The Elective Series)
10:43
10:43
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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10:43
What would you do if you had nine weeks to help ELA students imagine the real-world use of ELA skills? Inside the unique elective wheel program at Lisa Jones' school, students explore each discipline for nine weeks before moving onto the next. To show them literacy in action, Lisa has crafted an elective with three real-world projects to help them …
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This week let’s talk about careers. I don’t know if you can relate, but I graduated from high school with a general awareness of maybe six careers - law, medicine, teaching, ministry, science, and business. Let’s talk about how we can show our students a broader view of what’s out there - and build in some ELA skills to the process. A fun way to st…
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307: Teaching African American Literature (The Elective Series)
20:17
20:17
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
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20:17
Today on the show, we’ll find out what happened when an administrator attended a student’s genius hour project presentation about a new elective she wanted to see proposed Teaching African American Literature. Spoiler alert, magic. We’re continuing our elective series today, and I’m delighted to tell you we're hearing from passionate veteran teache…
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EP305 5 ways to automate teaching tasks next school year to save you time
31:17
31:17
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
सूचियाँ
पसंद
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31:17
It seems like every tech tool we use has now integrated generative artificial intelligence. Open a Google Doc, you’re prompted to use Gemini to help you write. Read a post on Facebook, Meta prompts you to “ask anything” via their AI. It’s powering our phones and our email, and the customer support chatbots on nearly every website when shopping onli…
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306: Help! My Readers have such Different Skill Levels
5:57
5:57
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बाद में चलाएं
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5:57
On this week’s mini-episode, I want to answer a question sent in by a member of our community. Here’s what she writes: Hi Betsy, I have classes of 10th graders who are SO divergent in skill levels. Some are reading Murakami for fun, and some are reading at a 5th grade level. I am struggling to differentiate for them and provide challenge for the st…
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305: Teaching Dramatic Writing (The Elective Series Continues)
11:27
11:27
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
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11:27
Today on the show we’re hearing from Valerie Boehm, who teaches a Dramatic Writing elective in Georgia as part of the state’s initiative to help more students find their way to good jobs in the film industry. So cool, right? This episode is part of our continuing series on electives, which has been SO MUCH fun to record. I hope you’re as excited to…
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Last chance for early bird discounts on the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek!
14:02
14:02
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
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14:02
Get an early bird discount by July 1st when you join the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Full Year program! The full transcript of this announcement is below. ---- Hey there, it’s Angela, I just wanted to release a quick announcement letting you know that our 40 Hour Workweek programs are now open for early bird access for the 2024-2025 school year! I’m g…
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EP304 Is artificial intelligence the key to a 40 hour teacher workweek?
27:33
27:33
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बाद में चलाएं
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27:33
We know there’s potential…but let’s talk about the larger implications for the profession. In this episode, I’m sharing how AI has already transformed the way many teachers work, and exploring the ethics, best practices, and future trends for AI in schools. Listen in to hear: What surprised me in a survey about schools' AI policies 3 principles tha…
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Trailer: The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast
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1:45
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बाद में चलाएं
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Join me each week for innovative teaching strategies you can use immediately in your ELA classroom, from choice reading help to book clubs, project-based-learning to AI, student podcasting to genius hour, we cover the good stuff. Whether you're trying to figure out how to engage your eighth graders, trying to help your 11th graders through the coll…
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EP303 How Danish schools embrace the slowdown and foster work/life balance (with Pernille Ripp)
1:10:59
1:10:59
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बाद में चलाएं
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1:10:59
As an educator who's lived and taught in both the US and Denmark, Pernille’s story is a revealing look into two vastly different education systems. Let's unpack her journey and what it tells us about work-life balance, societal values, and teaching philosophies. You’ll hear: Why Pernille’s family moved to Wisconsin from Denmark when she was a teena…
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304: The Day my Students Questioned our Bleak Book Choices
4:48
4:48
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बाद में चलाएं
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4:48
On this week’s mini-episode, I’m remembering the moment my 11th graders asked me to please, please, please add a book to our curriculum that wasn’t so depressing. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience? Let’s talk about what to do when the curriculum is full of death and despair. We were moving towards spring the year my juniors asked me why all of …
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303: The End-of-Year Checklist for a Better August
10:26
10:26
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बाद में चलाएं
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10:26
Last night I dreamed I was teaching in a new classroom, except it had layers of stuff on the walls from three other teachers across twenty years of teaching. I couldn't find anything, and I couldn't change the set-up because I didn't know what was important to my colleagues. It was awful. Am I the only one to ever have a classroom set-up nightmare?…
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On this week’s mini-episode, let’s talk about my favorite online teacher tool, Canva. If you haven’t signed up for their free educator program yet, this summer is the perfect time! You can explore all the design tools this wonderful website has to offer, and be ready in the fall to start using it in class. Plus, I’ve got a free mini course ready to…
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You want the last day of ELA to be special, but what does that mean exactly? And who has the energy to think up this special plan when you're juggling allll the end-of-year things? If you'd like a fast, easy solution to the last day of your ELA classes, today I'm proposing (ha ha, I just accidentally typed PROMposing) stations. Stations are an easy…
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EP302 Education trends, predictions, and hope for the future of teaching
49:27
49:27
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बाद में चलाएं
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49:27
As the school year comes to a close, we’re taking a step back from practical strategies, and looking at the big picture of K-12 education. Until summer, there’s not a lot of time or mental bandwidth to consider questions like, “What are the larger factors impacting our work? How are other schools handling these challenges? How do we proactively pre…
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300: Teaching Summer School? 2 Paths to a Happier July
4:51
4:51
बाद में चलाएं
बाद में चलाएं
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4:51
On this week’s mini-episode, let’s talk summer school. Because I know that if you ARE teaching summer school, you’d like it to be engaging. Memorable. Creative. Superfantasticaliciousexpialadocious. But of course there’s the issue of you’re tired. And so are the students. And maybe they’re not that excited to be there. So let’s run through two quic…
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299: 3 Years Overseas: The Highs & Lows (as we prepare to say goodbye)
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बाद में चलाएं
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17:49
As the sun rises a little earlier each day and the cherry trees in our neighborhood fill with fruit, our three years in Europe are coming to a close. With only a few weeks left of this European family adventure, I find myself thinking back over all that we've seen and done and learned. Highs like winter paddleboarding in Barcelona, nighttime tobaga…
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298: This Shakespeare Podcast connects the Bard to Modern Life
5:22
5:22
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बाद में चलाएं
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5:22
Today I want to talk about a fantastic podcast for you to use in class if you teach Shakespeare. With dozens of intriguing episodes like "Shakespeare and Game of Thrones," "Shakespeare and YA Novels," and "Pop Sonnets," The Shakespeare Unlimited Podcast, by the Folger Shakespeare Library, is a great way to bring in modern connections and relevancy …
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297: How to Squeeze Choice Reading into ELA (even if it feels impossible)
10:29
10:29
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बाद में चलाएं
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10:29
Choice reading can sometimes feel like an out-of-reach dream. I recently heard from a busy teacher who wrote, "I love choice reading, but squeezing it in can be tough!" Yeah, I get that. There's so much going on in ELA. In today's episode, we're talking about how to squeeze more choice reading moments into your busy schedule. Even if you don't have…
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EP301 5 ways to make an old lesson feel fresh and interesting again (with Betsy Potash of Spark Creativity)
40:05
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बाद में चलाएं
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40:05
Bored with your curriculum or instructional routines? I’m talking with Betsy Potash of the Spark Creativity Podcast about easy ways to make things feel fresh and interesting again. Often we switch things up in our teaching to keep ourselves from getting bored. But, too much change can create unnecessary work for us. It can also waste class time for…
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296: My Favorite Final Exam (I mean, not that I don’t love Multiple Choice)
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5:04
Today I want to talk final exams, and specifically, one I’ve really enjoyed giving when I had the leeway to skip the sit-down exam. If you don’t have to involve any Scantron sheets in your final, you might love it too, so let’s dive in. Maybe you’ve seen some of the great graduation speeches floating around the internet - maybe you even analyze som…
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