Tricia Ebarvia

My 9th graders and I are in the middle of reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Purple Hibiscus. We are about half-way through the book, and it seemed a good time to hear from the author herself by watching a TED Talk she delivered a few years… Read More

A short post today as I get ready to head back to school tonight to chaperone the “Mr. Pioneer” talent show/fundraiser (add this to my growing list of things I thought I’d never do)… I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my teaching practice, why… Read More

A few days ago, I asked my 9th graders to set a reading goal for themselves. For many of them, this goal could have been something as simple as staying focused while reading or stopping periodically to assess their understanding. “What’s your goal, Mrs. Ebarvia?” a… Read More

Last year, as I was reading Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist, I came across a passage that struck me: If you ask yourself, ‘What’s the best thing that happened today?’ it actually forces a certain kind of cheerful retrospection that pulls up from the recent… Read More

This morning, I asked my AP Lang students to take out their notebooks and respond to the following prompt, “List five things you’ve done that you never thought you’d do.” There were some interesting, if not random, responses. Among them: I never thought I’d get… Read More

It was Back-to-School Night at my sons’ school, September 2012. As my husband and I walked through the too-small hallways towards my sons’ classrooms, I saw an older gentleman in the crowd approaching from the opposite direction.

I would have recognized him anywhere. Tall, shaved head, and smiling eyes—it was Mr. Wemple, my former high school social studies teacher.

Because my boys are in public school, every Tuesday afternoon, I drop Matthew and Toby off at our church for their weekly P.R.E.P. class. When I was growing up, we called it C.C.D., but now it’s just P.R.E.P., or Parish Religious Education Program. I went… Read More

5:30-6:10 Check e-mail. Create Google Form survey for Read-A-Thon. Write up and post assignment details for RAFT assignment for world lit students. 6:10-6:40 Get ready. Get text from colleague about senior class meeting this morning. 6:40-7:05 Drive to school, listen to Morning Edition on NPR.… Read More

At the invitation of a friend, I recently joined the “Opt Out of Standardized Tests in Pennsylvania” group on Facebook. The group, made up of area parents, encourages parents to become informed about the drawbacks of high stakes testing and provides parents with the tools… Read More

It’s already 9:13 p.m, and my 2nd grader and I still need to finish putting together his display board for the science fair tomorrow. Unfortunately, I was sidetracked earlier tonight trying to finish up a few video tutorials for class tomorrow. It’s surprisingly difficult to… Read More