Craig Nicoletti is an AP U.S. History teacher and Humanities Program Chair at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis.
Category: High School Disciplines
Five Tips for Navigating Your First Dual Credit Course
Morgan Cline is a 2025 graduate of Teays Valley High School in Ashville, Ohio, currently studying aviation and music education at The Ohio State University. Imagine starting your first year of college. New school, new friends, new living arrangements, potentially a new city to call home, new activities—new everything. For many, this is the biggest …
Continue reading Five Tips for Navigating Your First Dual Credit Course
Storying the Classroom: Why ELA Is the Perfect Place for Ethnic Studies
Since the fall of 2021, I’ve taught a class called English 12 Ethnic Cultures, a course designed specifically to incorporate Ethnic Studies principles into English Language Arts. After doing this work for some time, I am convinced that the Language Arts classroom is a perfect place for this kind of work. English teachers are natural storytellers, and our classrooms can be the place where students’ own stories emerge.
“Write What’s Not Fair”: On Obsession, Paradox, and Permission in the Classroom
Passionate student writers rarely lack ideas, but instructors can help them narrow those ideas down by choosing to write what makes them feel the most. Authors Matthew Clark Davison and Alice LaPlante instruct students to write what’s “not fair.” Unresolved emotions, from hatred to love, offer great fuel to new writers seeking direction.
The Best of Both Worlds: Using Print and Digital Tools in your AP® Literature Course
As an older Millennial teacher, I find that I am stuck between two worlds: the one I was born in and the one in which I grew up. The one I was born in was analog: paper, pencils and highlighters, and books. The one I grew up in—although it was ever-evolving—was decidedly not analog. It was keyboards, screens, and software updates. Like me, students are caught between these two worlds.
Creating Connections: Tips for Writing Effective Test Questions
Tests are a learning experience for the test-taker. Tests are not only a way to find out how much students know, but they are also a way to guide the test taker as to what is most important about what they are learning. Whether it is for a chapter test, a semester exam, or a test bank, I write questions that focus on details and the big picture.
Behind the Scenes of THE NORTON GUIDE TO TEACHING IN DUAL ENROLLMENT CONTEXTS
When teaching dual enrollment classes, it may be difficult to craft lessons that meet the spectrum of your students' needs and educational interests. W. W. Norton composition and rhetoric editor, Erica Wnek, emphasizes Norton's commitment to dual enrollment instructors and illustrates the importance of supporting dual enrollment courses.
Using the Norton Critical Edition of WIDE SARGASSO SEA in a High School Literature Survey
Pamela J. Franics, PhD, outlines the many ways the Norton Critical Edition of Wide Sargasso Sea brings a deeper analysis to her classroom, including teaching her students the importance of critical literary lenses, context, and backstory when analyzing text.
What I Wish My High School Teachers Knew When I Was in High School
Award-winning children’s author Rex Ogle suggests assumptions that kids are either “good” or “bad” leave little room for nuance. Despite gaining a reputation as a “bad kid,” Ogle highlights the teachers who saw past this label and recognized his potential.
Setting Up High School and Dual Enrollment Courses
Rebekah Johnson taught high school Spanish for eight years in the US and the UK. She spent much of that time as Head of Department, training her colleagues on best practices for teaching and the incorporation of Canvas into the classroom. She's currently an Educational Technology Specialist at Norton.