Nicholas A. Emmanuele, PhD (he/him/his)
@naemmanuele
ELA Teacher & Department Chair in Erie, PA | Chair, Conference on English Leadership | President, LitAGE | Adjunct Lecturer, Gannon University | PhD | 🏳️🌈 | he/him/his
It wasn’t until today that I realized I could set the icons from my institutions as the labels for each of my Outlook accounts on my phone. Before, they all just had my initials in a circle.
Check out @jeffgomez.bsky.social‘s essay on participatory storyworlds & storytelling: how do we move from being an audience to a story to a becoming of our truer selves? www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffgo...
I’m working to add some puzzles to my class as we gamify (especially for opening activities), and #Murdoku seems like a wonderful addition since it’s story-based (“who’s the killer?”). murdoku.com?lang=en
This year, my co-teacher and I are returning to some #gamification, where students rank up each week as they complete tasks from the prior week. We’ll use hard copy Rank cards in binder sleeves. Each Rank gives some freedom or bonuses to keep things interesting. I’d love student art in the future.
I got the hard copy of my printed dissertation in the mail from ProQuest! Navigating Disability Stigma, Reader Identity, and Special Education Services in Secondary ELA Classrooms: A Mixed Methods Study of Adolescents With Specific Learning Disabilities in Reading www.proquest.com/openview/dce...
Pairing @jarredamato.bsky.social’s JUST READ IT with @beritgordon.bsky.social’s NO MORE FAKE READING would be phenomenal professional learning for ELA teams looking to increase student #reading motivation, identities, and abilities. #leadELA #PD
I’m finally getting to fully dive into @jarredamato.bsky.social’s JUST READ IT @corwinpress.bsky.social . I need to revamp my independent reading routines and community… and who better to learn from?
As I return to #MagicTheGathering ( #MtG ), I think of how much my #literacy / #literacies journey was impacted: storytelling, writing, creating, communicating. I’d love to study how Magic has impacted young players’ vocabularies. Anyway, here are some of my old cards from #MtGATQ as I re-sort.
Time to dive into some summer professional reading: “Joyful Literacies in Secondary Language Arts” by Riesco, Hackett-Hill, Goering, & Yates Grizzle @ncte.org. I need more joy in my classes. Some of my routines and focus on skills (and some test prep) have stifled joy, I fear. Time to recalibrate.
Students loved our lesson in stage combat. We learned basic sword movements, a punch, and hair pulls. It was an adventurous lesson after we finished reading SHE KILLS MONSTERS.
I’m finally getting to hand-writing thank you cards to the four focal students from the case study strand of my dissertation. The cards will contain a simple language summary of my three key findings and a brief personal reflection on their contributions to my understandings. #PhDLife
I don’t love IXL, but I ran an ANOVA to compare the means of high school students’ IXL reading benchmark scores to their state end-of-year exam in ELA, and I found statistically significant differences in the groups, suggesting some correlation on these measures. #statistics #leadELA
I shared my current assessment beliefs and questions below, but I’ve ranged from gamification to standards based to gradeless and a currently swinging back to more traditional grades. It’s a continual process to respond to students.
I do love teaching SHE KILLS MONSTERS: YOUNG ADVENTURERS EDITION in tenth grade ELA. It’s “cringe” enough for the students at first, then they buy into it. We get to get up, act, use some prop/foam swords, and explore the motifs of grief and inclusivity.
It was a beautiful day yesterday, so I rocked my new #UBuffalo alumni pin!
Our theatre students will end our run of Ellen McLaughlin’s THE TROJAN WOMEN tonight. We had stage combat, multiple languages (spoken and projected, translated by students), choral work, masks, and some music. What happens when war displaces people? So proud of this cast & their work.
Our production of THE TROJAN WOMEN—with masks, multilingual lines, stage combat, and music—runs this Thursday to Saturday. The students continually impress me with their dedication and collaborative spirit! stream.mux.com/SRKdN4jSJFz9...
There are some minor revisions and edits left to address, but I successfully defended my dissertation last night. Once my degree is conferred, I’ll have a PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning! Many thanks to all my friends, family, & colleagues!
The president of the United States should not be threatening to end “civilizations.” This message is crass and heartless and cowardly. I hope any work I do in schools inspires and teaches students to be better than this.
On 4/11/26, #CEL is hosting our virtual, 3-hour #OnLeadership symposium. Talk about texts and literacy with other leaders (dept chairs, coaches, supervisors, etc.). Join for relaxed and conversational professional learning. Free for members (join today!). ncte.org/cel-symposiu...
Today was our first rehearsal for Ellen McLaughlin’s THE TROJAN WOMEN. We’ll be playing in masks, working with student translators, and adding some music. I’m excited for this challenging, heavy, ever-relevant piece.
It’s not too late to join #CEL for our social hour on 3/25/26 at 7pm ET. Bring a current problem of practice and/or join us for troubleshooting in the world of literacy leadership. Add CEL ($25 annually) to your NCTE membership to join us. ncte.org/cel-problems...
I’m intrigued how the title uses “teach” but the subtitle uses “assign.” I think those are different questions.
I really enjoy Conradi et al.’s (2014) hierarchy of motivation-related constructs. Motivation is multifaceted—student readers are not just “motivated” or “not motivated” to read.
I found my organizing structure for my dissertations' literature review finally! I have so many concepts, but I finally sequenced and grouped them in a way that mirrors the general sequence of my data collection (and research questions)! My dissertation is drafted, but I'm in heavy revisions.
I just reread some chapters, skimmed through my annotations of some full texts, and read through some new chapters as I work to retool/revise the #disability studies framework section of my dissertation. Returning to texts in rapid succession to put ideas alongside one another is exhilarating.