Ann Van Etten

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Ann Van Etten teaches eighth-grade language arts in Iowa. She received a bachelor’s degree in English education with a minor in creative writing from the University of Northern Iowa, and a master’s in English education at the University of Iowa. She earned her National Board Certification in English language arts in 2010. Van Etten also teaches creative writing to middle school students at the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, a non-profit after school arts organization.


Pages authored by Ann Van Etten

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Ava’s Words Teach Social Justice Lesson Ava, an 8th-grade student in my after-school creative writing class came to me to discuss a story she was working on. She was writing a fictional...
Writing the Powerless Out of History In a recent discussion about a history reading, I asked students if they understood the need to think critically about what we read, even if the...
Why Service Is a Skill Worth Learning I overheard two students talking in class one day about their after-school plans. One said she would be volunteering at the local women’s shelter...
Don’t Label a Book by Gender Editor's Note: Teaching Tolerance launched a new series of lessons about Gender Expression for early grades. This week's featured lesson can be found...
How Gadgets Teach Kids They are Poor Editor’s Note: This month, Teaching Tolerance launched a new series of lessons called Issues of Poverty. This week’s featured lesson can be found...
Rethinking Poverty and Casual Conversations I recently overheard a lot of talk in the hallways about holiday gifts that students want or deals they had found during the Black Friday mad rush of...
Student Writing: A Listening Exercise As an eighth-grade writing teacher, I routinely focus on reading student writing and utilizing it for several purposes. I am designing effective...
Under the Influence of Teacher Talk At the start of my career as an eighth-grade language arts teacher, it never bothered me when students were described by teachers as “low,” “middle...
Why I Teach: A Poem Editor’s Note: For National Poetry Month, we’ve departed from our typical prose-only style to present this special Why I Teach column.  ...