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Staying Child-Centered When You Work with Adults

Andie Cunningham shares challenges and practical strategies for how literacy leaders can stay child-centered.

Teacher Vulnerability

Julie Johnson writes about renewal and staying centered during tough teaching times.

Nourishment: Making Time and Space for Little Joys

We can’t forget the importance of being kind to ourselves. Ruth Ayres explains how small pleasures add up to big delights.

Peer Conferring: The Modeling Phase

Amanda Adrian provides a framework, sample model lesson, and peer conferring guide for students to use as they learn how to respond to their classmates.

Conferring for Conventions (Conventions Series Part 5)

Heather Rader gives examples of convention conferences in this final installment of the conventions series.

Creating Anchor Charts with Multiple Classes

It’s a dilemma many middle school teachers face. How do you construct anchor charts with multiple groups of students, when only one chart will be hung in the room?  Katherine Sokolowski explains how she ensures all classes have input and a “clean slate” in constructing charts.

Aligning the Common Core and Conventions Instruction (Conventions Series Part 4)

Heather Rader works with a team of intermediate teachers as they connect their plans for conventions instruction and the Common Core.

Reading as Reward

Principal Jennifer Schwanke finds herself on a mad dash to buy a baked potato for a struggling reader, and this is the moment that crystallizes for her everything that is wrong with most reading rewards (especially those involving food).

Formative Assessment: Wall Displays and Conversations in First Grade

Formative assessments are always a priority in classrooms. Cathy Mere explains how she uses a classroom wall display and conversations to highlight strong writing and help her first graders learn to assess improvements in their work.

The Apple Doesn’t Fall from the Tree: Nurturing Critical Thinking and Choice with Middle School Writers

Katie Baydo-Reed has to try, try, and try again to get high quality writing and thinking from her eighth graders, but the effort builds independence and reflection.

What Anchor Charts Are Essential?

Katherine Sokolowski considers what anchor charts are essential in her fifth-grade classroom, and where they work best for posting.

Ten Things Every Writer Needs to Know: A Podcast with Jeff Anderson

Jeff Anderson shares some insights from his latest book in this new podcast hosted by Franki Sibberson.

Make a Really BIG List

Big lists can be intimidating, especially when our to-do lists are long and never quite finished. Ruth Ayres explains the power of big lists in other contexts, especially writing, and how they might actually provide comfort and security when tackling big projects and ideas.

Ten Classic Ideas That Still Work

Teachers are always on the hunt for something new, even as we cherish what works well year after year. Franki Sibberson lists the activities that have stood the test of time in her classroom.

Between Inquiry and Instruction (Conventions Series Part 3)

Heather Rader works with a team of intermediate teachers as they pore over student work together and analyze which conventions should be taught.

What Matters? Teaching Conventions Series

Heather Rader works with a team of intermediate teachers to ferret out what does and doesn’t work, based on research and experience.

Good News: Your Teacher is Calling

Heather Rader and Jennifer Taft share strategies for positive communication with parents.

Book Memories

Jennifer Schwanke finds connections between her childhood, teaching, and school leadership in this heartwarming essay.

Opening Doors to Parents in Middle School

Gretchen Taylor finds middle school parents enjoy hearing about their child’s day — it’s just a matter of getting creative in dealing with the large number of families.

Concise, Conversational, and Consistent: Explaining the Work of Literacy Coaches

Heather Rader shares the language she uses to describe literacy coaching to others.

Finding a Fit (The Power of Conventions Series)

Heather Rader works with a teaching team as they integrate conventions instruction into their writing workshop.

From Reading to Writing Informational Texts

Aimee Buckner makes some surprising discoveries about what types of texts support writers working in nonfiction genres.

Trust

Mary Lee Hahn reminds herself (and us!) of the qualities we have that inspire trust in ourselves and our ability to teach well.

Unpacking the Kindergarten Common Core Standards

Mandy Robek shares five tips that can help teachers at any grade level develop strategies for tackling the Common Core.

Supporting Young Writers with Opinion Texts

Katie DiCesare considers how different texts at the primary level can support student understanding of standards for opinion and argumentative writing.

Chronology in Nonfiction (Common Core Booklist)


Franki Sibberson's latest Common Core booklist includes texts to help students master chronology in nonfiction.

Shifting from Spelling to Word Study in 5th Grade

Maria Caplin explains how she made the shift from spelling to word study in the intermediate grades.

The Joys and Challenges of Co-Teaching

Katherine Sokolowski explores the challenges and joys of co-teaching with special education colleagues.

Do They Care? Empathy Book Clubs

Do they care? That’s the question Karen Terlecky asks herself as she sets up book clubs in her fifth-grade classroom with a focus on empathy.

The Blank Page and Better Teaching

Aimee Buckner learns some important lessons about how images and words work together for student writers when she moves between second- and fifth-grade classrooms.

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