Author Archives: lzingger

About lzingger

I'm a former librarian and currently work on staff at Teach For America. I'm in awe of what our corps members do everyday and love reading your stories. In my free time I like to knit little critters and bake pies. I live in Seattle with my hubs and two enormous black cats.

Three Ways to Show Off Your Poet Warriors During National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month! To celebrate, Emily Southerton (Delta '10) is taking her Poet Warriors project on the road. Emily will be teaching a week-long poetry unit in corps member classrooms across the country this spring and we’ll be ...

Posted in Corps Stories |

What The Hunger Games’ Katniss and TFANet have in Common

To all my fellow Hunger Games fans: I don’t know about you, but I secretly want to be Katniss. She’s smart and resourceful. She’s beyond tough. And this girl can survive on grilled squirrel. WOW. Growing up in woodsy District 12, ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |

3 Tips For Finding Good Relationship Advice on TFANet

Ok, who doesn’t love the Breakfast Club? Five high school archetypes--The Bad Boy, the Artsy Girl, the Jock, the Preppy and the Geek-- are forced to spend Saturday detention together. All of them bonded together against a common enemy: Assistant Principal Vernon. What ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |

TFANet Tip: The Yodas of teaching are here to help you. Find them, you must.

The first time I saw Star Wars was actually in class, believe it or not. My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Avery, screened the film during a rainy day in December on the last day of school before winter break. And yes, ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |

There’s No Place Like Your New TFANet Home Page

When I was a kid, the Wizard of Oz was on heavy rotation in the Zingg family VCR (my childhood pre-dates DVDs by a decade or two). One of my favorite moments in this film is when Dorothy awakens from being ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |

Meet The Top Five 2012 TFANet Search Masters

Earlier this year I was mulling over a question: I wanted to help 2012 corps members learn how to get the most out of TFANet before Institute, but I didn’t know how. Doing another PowerPoint training just seemed so. . ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |

TFANet Tip: Are You There Corps? It’s Me, Laura.

Does navigating TFANet make you feel like a character from a Judy Blume novel? Ever find yourself searching for answers that you’re not sure where to find? Well, I’m hardly God, but I’m here to help! Hi everybody, my name is Laura. ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |