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Ms. Ulmer’s Classroom Edit display name

  • Huntingtown High School
  • Huntingtown, MD
  • More than a third of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

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I teach 16, 17, and 18 year old students who struggle to find the joy in reading and writing. They are highly motivated and skilled young people, but at some point along their educational journey, they lost their love of stories. As elementary students they would race to the carpet eager to be transported to the jungle of Wild Things, the swamps of Frog and Toad, and the whimsical world of Seuss. In middle school, many of them tell me about how they would fly through series like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson. They’d take risks and try out the fantastical imagination of Roald Dahl’s BFG, Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But something happens to students when they enter high school. I’ve been teaching for 10 years, and finally one of my students was honest enough to say, “Mrs. Ulmer, it’s you guys, English Teachers, who kill reading.” We “make” students read books that they aren’t interested in, don’t care about, and don’t see any value or relevance in. Unfortunately this only leads to "fake" reading which can actually be more detrimental than not reading at all. It’s my mission to help older students love reading again, and show them that books are a way to learn forever. I’m planning on instituting the book cub model as part of my daily lesson structure so that students have time to read, discuss, conference, and write about books OF THEIR CHOOSING. A well stocked classroom library is essential if this teaching model is to encounter any success because it would give students access to books on their individual reading levels, and provide opportunities for students to read about topics that are interesting to them.

About my class

I teach 16, 17, and 18 year old students who struggle to find the joy in reading and writing. They are highly motivated and skilled young people, but at some point along their educational journey, they lost their love of stories. As elementary students they would race to the carpet eager to be transported to the jungle of Wild Things, the swamps of Frog and Toad, and the whimsical world of Seuss. In middle school, many of them tell me about how they would fly through series like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson. They’d take risks and try out the fantastical imagination of Roald Dahl’s BFG, Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But something happens to students when they enter high school. I’ve been teaching for 10 years, and finally one of my students was honest enough to say, “Mrs. Ulmer, it’s you guys, English Teachers, who kill reading.” We “make” students read books that they aren’t interested in, don’t care about, and don’t see any value or relevance in. Unfortunately this only leads to "fake" reading which can actually be more detrimental than not reading at all. It’s my mission to help older students love reading again, and show them that books are a way to learn forever. I’m planning on instituting the book cub model as part of my daily lesson structure so that students have time to read, discuss, conference, and write about books OF THEIR CHOOSING. A well stocked classroom library is essential if this teaching model is to encounter any success because it would give students access to books on their individual reading levels, and provide opportunities for students to read about topics that are interesting to them.

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About my class

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