Author: Erin Mulvany-Mankowski

Erin L. Mulvany-Mankowski is a passionate and dedicated English Educator with a proven track record of fostering a lifelong love of learning in her students. Armed with a Master's in English and a wealth of classroom experience, Erin excels at creating engaging and dynamic learning environments. She is a strong advocate for collaboration and mentorship, believing that shared knowledge and experience are key to improving student success. Erin's commitment to her profession is evident in her active involvement in organizations such as the NCTE and MCTE. Her enthusiasm for literature and language is contagious, inspiring both her students and colleagues.

Great Poetry Reading Day: Helping Students Discover the Power of Poetry

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April marks National Poetry Month, established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to celebrate poetry’s significance in our lives. Poetry, one of humanity’s oldest art forms, preserves our stories and evolves alongside us. As a poetry enthusiast, I often hear from people who claim to “hate” poetry—and I always suggest they simply haven’t … read more »

Literacy as a Shared Responsibility: Supporting Reading Across Content Areas

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“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” —Frederick Douglass Educators will agree that literacy (the ability to read and write) is the cornerstone of learning. Literacy opens the world and allows one to be a lifelong learner. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) summarizes it well: “Literacy empowers and … read more »

Fairy Tales, Fables, and Myths, Oh My!

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“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”—Albert Einstein February is full of love, pride, historical connection, celebration, and the annual observation of a precognitive weather-forecasting rodent—but it’s also the birth month of a storytelling legend. Whilem Carl … read more »

Bringing Poetry to Your Classroom with T.S. Eliot

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Do you like Cats? Not the cute little fuzzballs that curl in your lap and purr as you read your favorite book, but the 1981, Andrew Lloyd Webber, fourth-longest-running-musical-masterpiece-performed-entirely-in-song Cats. If your answer is no, bear with me and don’t go anywhere. But if your answer is yes, then I’m sure you know that Cats … read more »

Back to School Community Building Activities for Secondary Classrooms

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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou Ahh…it is the joyous, wonderful time of the year where teachers are running wild, preparing their classroom for the next group of minds waiting to discover their full … read more »

Creating Responsible Digital Citizens Through Digital Source Evaluation

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Digital citizenship has come into greater focus for educators over the years as misinformation has begun to dominate social media news feeds. According to a 2024 fact sheet from Pew Research Center, more than 54% of American adults receive their news from social media outlets, and we know this number is much higher for younger … read more »

Science of Reading for Secondary: Boosting Vocabulary Instruction

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The Science of Reading (SOR) is not a fad or a new initiative—it’s the result of decades of empirical study and research that have proven how the brain learns to read and the tried-and-true practices that support this process. To integrate insights from this body of research into our instruction, there are some habits we’ll … read more »

The Hounds of Misinformation: What Sherlock Holmes Can Teach Us About Media Literacy

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A letter from Sherlock to Watson My dear Watson,  In a world overflowing with information, the ability to distinguish truth from deception is a skill as critical as any detective’s keen eye. This is why I find the study of ‘media literacy’ so intriguing—it is, in many ways, the modern art of deduction. I was … read more »

Making Shakespeare Accessible: Practical Reading Strategies for Educators

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Sonnet for Student ReadingIn hallowed halls of learning’s sacred shrine,Where dusty texts and scrolls do hold their sway,The scholars gather, with minds so fine,To read and study, night and endless day.Their eyes, aflame with zeal for knowledge true,Do scan the pages, line by line, with care,But oft, in haste, they skip the clue,And miss the … read more »