About

Hi!

This blog is named after a quote from Kurt Vonnegut, who is probably the closest thing I have to a favourite author.

I teach English and History, and currently work as a teacher in the Blue Mountains as a Learning and Support Teacher. Prior to being an educator I worked in bookstores and as a freelance writer (mostly reviewing films).

Publications

2023

• The Craft of Writing Workbook, e-Book for ETA (three chapters)
• 'World War II, the Cowra Breakout & Reconciliation on Australian Soil', Teaching History (Volume 57, No. 1)
• 'Teotihuacan: Metropolis of the Ancient World', Teaching History (Volume 56, No. 4)
• 'Ways of Reading for Literary Worlds in Extension English', mETAphor (Issue 4, 2022)
• 'Close Study of Literature: Kindred by Kirli Saunders', mETAphor (Issue 1, 2023)

2022

• Into English: Dystopia - A Tale of Power and Control, textbook with Anthony Bosco and Emily Bosco (Into English, 2022)
• 'Contributing Factors to the Boudiccan Revolt', Teaching History (Volume 55, No. 4)
• 'Continuity and Change in Ancient China', Teaching History (Volume 55, No. 4)

2021

• Into English: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, textbook with Anthony Bosco and Emily Bosco (Into English, 2021)
• 'The Role of Context and Textual Integrity in Understanding 'Henry IV, Part 1', mETAphor (Issue 3, 2021)
• 'Brightness', a poem featured in LiteLitOne (Issue 7, 2021)
• Into English: Texts and Human Experiences - I Am Malala, textbook with Anthony Bosco and Emily Bosco (Into English, 2021)
• 'Wall Art in San Cristobal de las Casas', a poem featured in Burrow (Issue 2, 2021)
• 'Making Contact with the Puebloan Peoples of America', Teaching History (Volume 54, No. 4)

2020

• Charity and Change, a play (Phoenix Education)
• Community and Family, a play (Phoenix Education)
• 'Social and Cultural Change in the USSR: Likbez', Teaching History (Volume 54, No. 3)
• 'Midwich Roost', a poem featured in Burrow (Issue 1, 2020)
  
• 'Candle in a Glass Bottle', a poem featured in Red Room Poetry, 2020
  
• Into English: Contemporary Asian-Australian Poets, textbook with Anthony Bosco and Emily Bosco (Into English, 2019)
  
• 'Literary Homelands: Related Text Ideas', mETAphor (Issue 2, 2020)
• 'Colonisation and Contact', chapter in History Transformed Stage 4 (Cambridge Press, 2020)
• 'Rights and Freedoms', chapter in History Transformed Stage 5 (Cambridge Press, 2020)
• 'Ten Great Books on Aboriginal History', Teaching History (Volume 53, No. 4)

2019

• 'Grandpa's Place', foreshadowing resource in Creative Horizons (ETA Writing Series, 2019)
• 'Islands', 'Three in the Gallery', poetry, in Cicerone Journal (Volume 3, 2019)
• Into English: Under Milk Wood, textbook with Anthony Bosco and Emily Bosco (Into English, 2019)
• Into English: Texts and Human Experiences - The Merchant of Venice, textbook with Anthony Bosco and Emily Bosco (Into English, 2019) 
• 'At the Party', a poem, in W'Sup (Autumn Edition, 2019)
• 'Film as a Language', chapter in Charged With Meaning 4th Ed. (Phoenix Education, 2019)

2018

• 'Access Points: Differentiating English for students through adjusted resources,' mETAphor (Issue 1, 2018) 
• 'Blam! (Teaching Comics to Stage 4)', mETAphor (Issue 2, 2018)
• 'Band 6 Sample Response for Henry IV: Part I,' Checkpoints Advanced English, Cambridge Press, 2018 
• 'Match', a poem featured in Red Room Poetry, 2018 
• 'Burning Rice: English Extension 1: Literary Homelands,' mETAphor (Issue 4, 2018)
• 'History - A Personal Tour,' Teaching History (Volume 52, No.4)

2017

• 'Elysium and Animal Farm: A Comparative Study Option', mETAphor (Issue 1, 2017)
• 'Band 6 Sample Response for The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender', Checkpoints Standard English, Cambridge Press, 2017
•  'Building Success in Studying China's Cultural Revolution', Teaching History (Volume 51, No. 2)
• Creative Writing sample, mETAphor (Issue 3, 2017)
• 'Uncovering the Paradigm', English in Australia (Volume 52, Number 3, 2017)
• 'Shapiro's Window into Hamlet's Context', mETAphor (Issue 4, 2017)  
• 'Arguing Cause and Effect: Why did the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident Happen?', Teaching History (Volume 51, No. 4)

2016

• 'Teaching Option 13: Spain and the Aztec Empire', Teaching History (Volume 50, No. 2)
• 'Tim Winton's Blueback and Stage 4 Students', mETAphor (Issue 2, 2016)
• 'Criteria and the English Classroom', mETAphor (Issue 3, 2016)
• 'Socratic Circles', ETANotes (Term 3, 2016)

I have also presented to teachers and senior students in NSW on the following:

• The Craft of Writing
• Year 12 text options - The Tempest/Hag-Seed, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Inside My Mother, Rainbow's End, Under Milk Wood, The Hare with the Amber Eyes, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV Part 1.
• Extension English 1 - Texts, Culture and Value (Dracula option), Literary Worlds.
• Film Studies (for Stage 5)
• Teaching graphic novels/comics (for Stage 4-5)
• Assessment approaches (for Stage 6)
• Right and Freedoms (for Year 10 History)
• The Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square (for Year 12 Modern History)