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Curricular Literacy: Rehearsal Time
Curriculum serves not just students; curricular materials also provide potential learning opportunities for the adults who teach them. —Ball & Cohen, 1996, as cited in Grossman & Thompson, 2004, p....
Student Feedback Shaping Classroom Environments
When teachers receive feedback about their impact, then the students are the biggest beneficiaries. —John Hattie Throughout my years of teaching, I have collected many ideas and tips for instructional...
Unlikely Friendships: A Multi-Generational Booklist
To validate the existence of another human being is one of the most beautiful and selfless gifts we can give. In doing so, we also validate ourselves. —Tracey Willis Gates...
Making Meaning of Story Through Modeling
Pictures and manipulatives can hold an idea in place right in front of you so that you can think about it more deeply. —IG: @MixandMath When I saw this quote...
Micro-Wins: The Data Graphs Don’t Show
It can be daunting to look at the data charts and test scores. It is hard to see those red lines and dots running across the page in a straight...
“I Was Scared”: Manny’s Story
I was sitting next to Manny reading a beginning book with her. As I coached her through the text, she turned to me and said loudly and dramatically, “Mrs. Parks,...
Addressing Attention Spans
A common observation from educators, parents, and other adults who work with children seems to be “They just don’t seem to be able to pay attention for long,” or “It’s...
Let the Math Linger: Creating Spaces and Conditions for Students to Revisit Math Materials Over Time
“Hey Siri, add bananas to my grocery list." “Got it, bananas added to your grocery list.” “Hey Siri, remind me to get money for Ms. Christy tomorrow at 4 p.m.”...
Grow Your Own Confidence and Humility as a Coach
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less. —Rick Warren Coaches are usually hired because they have extensive knowledge and experience. The trust that is...
Senior Send-Off
“Ms. Messenger!” I hear as I walk out of Costco. There stands former student Henry, now over 6 feet tall. We spend our two-minute conversation beaming and catching up. It...
Eight End-of-the-Year Routines
Spring was in the air, and there were whispers in the hallways about how many more Mondays there were in the school year. One morning during our morning meeting a...
Cool Things Happening This Year: Celebrating Greatness from Within
“Something cool is going to happen for you today!” As I gripped the steering wheel on my morning commute, I heard these words echo out from the car speakers. A...
Curricular Literacy: Learning When to Chef
Many teacher preparation programs have not sufficiently prepared new teachers to understand the importance of well-taught, high-quality curriculum on student learning, or how to recognize, select, revise or facilitate high-quality...
Building Community and Culture with a Restorative Approach
Many teachers today believe that managing student behavior is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. If you scroll long enough on social media, you will find articles, threads,...
Navigating Complex Conversations with Young Children
As Fred Rogers said, “Look for the helpers.” When we train our own brains to notice the helping, we invite children to do the same. As humans, it can be...
Curricular Literacy: What Can Teacher Candidates Learn from High-Quality Instructional Materials?
The truth is that teacher education programs often reinforce . . . a long-standing emphasis on “lesson-planning from scratch” over approaches that teach candidates how to recognize and skillfully use...
Tips for Navigating a Scripted Literacy Program
Boxes and boxes and boxes arrived in August. I unpacked and unpacked and unpacked. I reorganized manuals, magazines, and small group books by unit in cardboard boxes and set them...
The Chain
It seems like everywhere you turn these days there is a headline lamenting the collapse of reading. A National Endowment for the Arts blog post declared, “Federal Data on Reading...
What Type of Mistake Was It?
If you’re in conversation with the self, you can be in conversation with the world. —Suleika Jaouad How can we help students reflect on their mistakes so that they can...
From Meet-Cutes to Happily-Ever-Afters: A Romance Genre Study
This year one of my classes had a distinct reading personality. Nearly all the students were romance readers. This is not a genre I am personally drawn to, but after...
Beyond Compliance: A Framework for Supporting Literacy Engagement and Empowerment
“We should purchase a couple of books on ADHD, so that I can share them with my friends and they can understand what it’s like to be me.” This quote...
