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Launching a Sort
“Give me that!” my youngest son, Jon, yells at his older brother, Joel. “Come and get it!” an antagonistic Joel replies. I resume writing, but the back-and-forth banter continues. I...
Six-Word Memoirs
Recently I learned about six-word memoirs while I was in an orientation for the Southern Maine Writing Project Invitational Institute. Our task was to interview someone we did not know well...
Launching Writing Workshop: Mentor Texts
Writing is more than crafting an opinion, a narrative, or an informational piece to meet a standard. As I think about launching a writing workshop unit in second grade, I...
Candy Memoirs
Why is it that high school teachers think they must start the year by going over rules and procedures? It must be something that is taught in that same methods...
Picture It: Live Demonstration
We can tell about it. Better still, we can tell and read about it. Even better we can pair that reading with video in a real classroom. But when Heather...
ABCs of Coaching
Summer gives me time to think about the upcoming coaching season. In particular, I’m thinking about the new coaches—Vikki, Samantha, and Meghan—whom I’ll be mentoring in the fall as well...
Launching Reading Workshop: Mentor Texts
Unless we reach into our students’ hearts, we have no entry into their minds. Regie Routman Changing grade levels can be scary, because most likely the books and materials...
Digital Clutter and Being Present with Teachers
With all the technology and interruptions in our lives today, it’s easy to be distracted during a conversation. I pride myself on multitasking and being efficient in my work, but...
A Secret to Successful Teacher-Coach Relationships
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson When...
The First Days of Reading and Writing Workshops
I find that most of my fifth graders enter our room seeing reading and writing as something done for school. There are the few kids who love reading, but most...
Using Summer Reading as Bookends for the School Year
I love to talk with adults about their summer reading plans. Some people enjoy tackling longer books during the summer months, whereas others like to catch up on series or...
30 Books in 30 Days
At the start of the school year, I use the 30 Books in 30 Days project to introduce my sixth-grade students to new authors and genres through previewing a wide...
Tutoring Ruth: Designing an Assessment
My telephone rings. It's an unidentified number but in my area code, so I pick up. A concerned mother whispers, describing her daughter Ruth’s reading struggles. I listen to more...
Character Through Literature Early in the Year
This year as I began to prepare for my new class, my mind turned to units. What would be the first units I would teach? I thought of comprehension strategies,...
Getting Instructional Practices Up and Running
How long does it take to get an instructional practice up and running? A week? A month? A semester? A year? Is there any such thing as too much support?...
Coaching Owls, Larks, and Hummingbirds
What do birds have to do with coaching? More than I initially suspected. I first read about sleep patterns of larks, owls, and hummingbirds in John Medina’s book Brain Rules:...
Planning for Instruction: Sea Glass
On a recent trip to Lake Erie while walking along the beach, I spied something glistening in the sand. I bent down to pick up the tiny shiny nugget, and...
The Rapid Reader: Tutoring Esther
Esther, a rapid reader, is in third grade. She spurts words, one after another, racing to the end of a paragraph, page, chapter, or book. Periodically she pauses briefly, a...
Giving Up Television
I try to be a super teacher. I really do. I’ll take every child with every alphabet soup of labels, your “nonreaders,” your “I’m not a writer!,” your class clown,...
Many Possibilities for Student Podcasting
I enjoy trying out different technology ideas in our classroom, but one thing I always struggle with is whether the technology is an authentic response to reading and writing. If...
Animal Backpacks and Literacy Joy
Let the beauty of what we love be what we do. Rumi Children love stuffed animals. When my own children were small, stuffed animals took over their beds. Bedtimes were...
