PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR
SCHOOLS & DISTRICTS
Adventurous Teaching for Secondary ELA
I help grades 6–12 English departments design inquiry-driven units built on essential questions, so the classic novels they already teach become journeys students actually want to take.
For English departments ready to do things differently.
Your teachers are hearing "This is boring" and "Why do we have to read this?" every day. Students shut down on any text that isn't instantly fun, and everyone is feeling the pressure of the reading crisis.
The problem usually isn't the books, and it isn't your teachers.
It's units built around plot instead of questions.
When a unit is driven by "what happens next," students have no reason to care. When it's driven by a question worth arguing about, the same novel becomes something they want to explore.
My workshops help middle and high school English teams make that shift, using the texts and curriculum you already have. No new program to buy, no scripted lessons. Just a better way through the books you already love to teach.
Built for:
English departments in grades 6–12, from a single team to a whole district
Instructional coaches and literacy leaders planning PD around reading engagement
Curriculum directors working on vertical alignment and unit redesign
Three workshops, one journey
Every school starts in a different place. Some need a spark for a whole staff; others are ready to rebuild their curriculum from the ground up. These three workshops work on their own or as a path you can follow over a year.
The Map — Reframing Resistance: The Four Reading Realms. A shared language for why students resist reading, and how to meet them where they are.
The Route — Classics, Reimagined. Inquiry-based unit design that turns the novels you already teach into questions worth exploring.
The Expedition — Uncharted: The Inquiry Unit Makeover. Bring one unit you've taught the same way for years and leave with it rebuilt.
Not sure where to start? Most schools begin with the Four Reading Realms and come back for Classics, Reimagined. I'm happy to help you plan the path.
Reframing Resistance: The Four Reading Realms
A reading engagement workshop for grades 6–12 teachers
Students don't resist reading because they can't. More often, they're confused about why they're reading and what kind of thinking a text is asking of them. The Four Reading Realms is a framework I developed to make that purpose visible, by separating reading into four intentional realms focused on identity, perseverance, efficiency, and discernment. When students know which realm they're in, the eye-rolls turn into effort.
Teachers will leave with:
A shared schoolwide language for why students resist specific texts
Practical ways to talk about "hard books" that build perseverance instead of frustration
Classroom-ready tools: the Four Realms poster, framework cheat sheet, and reflection exit ticket
A simple plan to introduce the realms to students the next day
Want a preview first?
Watch the free Four Reading Realms webinar → REGISTER HERE
CHOICE
Lit Circles: Embracing Inquiry & Choice
THE FOOL-PROOF METHOD FOR DEVELOPING LIT CIRCLES FOR MULTIPLE UNITS AT ALL COURSE LEVELS.
Starting with a jaw-dropping Essential Question, teachers will learn how to use that EQ to build out a dynamic, choice-driven literature circle units. Teachers will learn how to run fuss-free book club discussions, select supplemental text materials, and write formative and summative assessments that focus on skills while students are all reading something different. Departments will walk away with templates to recreate all units discussed in the training.
starting at $3999
WHY WORK WITH AMANDA?
Amanda’s PD is different: it’s created BY teachers FOR teachers. Every component of the training is designed to meet teachers where they are and empower the skill sets teachers already bring to the table.
Teachers will leave the training with the tools to keep going in a new, more cohesive and more effective direction; teachers will NOT feel like you’ve just plopped a “new initiative” on top of them.
All of Amanda’s trainings come with a minimum 1-hour complimentary follow-up coaching call to be used at any time. This will not be a one-time dump of ideas on your teachers: they will have time to implement what they’ve learned and follow up with Amanda once they’ve had some time to work on their plans.
WHAT TEACHERS & STAFF HAVE TO SAY:
TAKE THE FIRST STEP:
FILL OUT OUR REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FORM BELOW AND AMANDA WILL PERSONALLY REACH OUT WITH AN AGENDA AND QUOTE FOR YOUR SPECIFIC SCHOOL’S NEEDS. PLEASE LEAVE AS MUCH DETAILED INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE!