Cynthia Raíces

High school ELA teacher. TCNJ graduate, lifelong Sigma Tau Deltan. Lover of books, coffee, and the planet.

[National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) @ncte]

"English majors are down 25.5 percent since the Great Recession, just as world’s top economists say we need more ‘storytellers'." https://t.co/1pC5B2kMZa

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

First observation done! ✅ Sophomores annotating important passages from Gatsby!

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

I shared a first draft of my book review with my students and we discussed its strengths and weaknesses. I wanted to show them that writing is often difficult, messy work, even for me. Thanks to their feedback, I’m looking forward to revamping this piece!

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

Can March please come faster?! Really looking forward to getting my hands on this one! 😍

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

I love having a brother in high school to bounce ideas off of. “Would you enjoy an activity like this?” “How many questions do you think is reasonable for this assignment?” Even though he’s not my student, I’m able get honest answers from a teen’s perspective!

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

When @feliciajsteele shares an amazing article with you, you drop everything you’re doing and incorporate it into a lesson. Very timely for my reluctant readers! https://t.co/IePOHCUVul

[Kareem Farah @Kareemfarah23]

So often disruptive students have never felt successful in a classroom setting. They are not proud of their academic abilities so they act out to shield their lack of confidence. Prove to them that they can truly be masters of content and you might see a shift in their behavior.

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

@ms_kaval @KateKeighley @ncte @magicalmsmurphy I second this! I just finished the book and LOVED IT. There’s so much opportunity with this pairing!

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

Had a long talk with a student today that ended with “If you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me. You are more than just a number in the grade book. You are a person, and I care about you.” She was so grateful to hear those words and to know I meant them. ❤️

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

Students were grateful and excited to have a discussion-based summer reading assessment instead of an essay or test. More introverted students were also invited to a re-take after school in small groups. Grades are in and we’re starting off the year on a positive note!

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

Happy #BannedBooksWeek! With resources from @BannedBooksWeek, high school students are discussing censorship and taking preventive measures to defend their own independent reading choices! #freetoread #ireadbannedbooks 📚

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

Wow, I absolutely LOVE this thread! Going to modify this for my sophomores and seniors!

[Emily Carr @emilyfcarr]

We’ve been hard at work exploring & expressing our identities this week! We started by developing “I Am” and “I Am Not” statements & then moved into writing “Where I’m From” poems. Q for Ss: Why is it important to learn about & share our identities when studying the Humanities?

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

P.S. We also did two different activities to practice name pronunciation. I tried both Flipgrid and index card pronunciation. Either way, I’ve got some studying to do this weekend!

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

Today we generated class community agreements that would allow students to reach their full learning potential. Students want creative/engaging lessons and choice, among others; even meditation made it into the mix! 🤗 (Post-Its feature policies for me to further consider.)

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

I plan on doing an activity to get the hang of name pronunciation tomorrow (technology issue), but for first period I had to make do with traditional roll call. I got to one student’s name and she gasped loudly, then said “You actually got it right!” Names matter. #day1victory

[Kelly Gallagher @KellyGToGo]

Surveyed my new seniors. 72% of them cannot identify a single author they like. Two-thirds of them “never” read in their spare time. Never. I know there are many factors behind this, but I can’t help wonder what role schools have played in killing the ❤️ of reading.

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

Surround yourself with people who are always willing to support you, share resources and advice, and give you spare PD books. People like @RLAtkins23.

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

This. This is why we read. This is why we teach. If we can lead a handful of students toward this light, we have done our job. Toni Morrison was a gem. Her legacy will live on through experiences like these.

[Cynthia Raíces @MsRaicesTeacher]

I found this while going through my things yesterday! An extremely thoughtful, personalized gift from my professor @connollm1 to commemorate the end of student teaching. Happy to be bringing a piece of @TCNJSchoolofEd with me into my first school! ☺️

[Rebecca Burnett @rebeccaburnett]

Pedagogy: Classrooms are never apolitical. NCTE’s Standing Committee Against Racism and Bias encourages teachers to speak out against the systemic and individual acts of racism that disenfranchise our students. Resources for combating racism. https://t.co/JQB2aUVZ2W @ncte