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Research IS the Project (Primary Research Series)
Have you had good chocolate and then tried really excellent chocolate? Were you ever able to go back to the just-good chocolate? Yeah, me neither. That’s what happened when I...
Embracing the Growth Mindset with Audiobooks
Have you ever been at a school or community event where kids are challenged to three-legged races or water balloon tosses? And then all of a sudden they announce a...
Audioboo, QR Codes, and Authentic Reading Response
This year I have given a lot of thought to authentic reading responses. I don’t know about you, but I do not typically finish a book and create some type...
Tips for Effective Family Communication from “The Mouse”
As a mother of a now five-and-a-half-year old, I’ve had many firsts with my son, Jordan. The calendar of his first year chronicles his first bath, his first word, his...
KLWL: Ordering Research (Primary Research Series Part 3)
Whether it’s the cart before the horse or the tail wagging the dog, there are plenty of sayings about the accepted order of things. With the inquiry process of KWL,...
Family Literacy Night
The pursuit of home-school connections never ends for educators. As a principal, I make mention of literacy in virtually every monthly newsletter I send home. In fact, this is a...
A Literary Taste of Home (Home is Where the Books Are Series)
It shocks me that my kids are Californians. Such a big part of my identity is being a New Englander (hard worker, slower to make friends but keep them for...
Hindsight: What I Wish I’d Known Before My School Burned Down
As trite as it sounds, you never think it is going to happen to you, until it does and then hindsight is just that -- a lot of "wish I...
Katherine Casey on Coaching in Classrooms (PODCAST)
Katherine Casey shares her latest thinking with Heather Rader on the best ways to mentor teachers in classrooms. Katherine is the author of Literacy Coaching: The Essentials. You can visit her...
Katherine Casey on Sharing Blunders with Colleagues (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Katherine Casey explains to Heather Rader why it is helpful for coaches to share their teaching blunders with colleagues. Katherine is the author of Literacy Coaching: The Essentials....
Literacy Coaching and Student Work with Diane Sweeney (PODCAST)
Diane Sweeney is the author of Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principals. In this podcast with Heather Rader, she talks about the dangers of focusing too much on...
Evocative Coaching with Bob and Megan Tschannen-Moran (PODCAST)
Bob and Megan Tschannen-Moran are the authors of Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time. In this podcast with Heather Rader they talk about their work with teachers and...
Just-Right Poetry and Individualizing Instruction
One of the challenges of teaching is finding the right books and materials to address specific instructional goals. Once teachers have found the perfect book to help their students understand...
The “Tys” of Student Research: Safety and Credibility (Primary Research Series Part 2)
I’ve been feeling very “meta” lately as I research research about research. Christopher Lehman’s book: Energize Research Reading and Writing: Fresh Strategies to Spark Interest, Develop Independence, and Meet Key...
March Book Madness
During the month of March, like many people in the United States, I am consumed by college basketball. In my opinion the NCAA Basketball Championship is the greatest thing in...
Exit Slips Open Doors
"It doesn't have to end here." So claimed the PowerPoint slide at the end of my professional development classes in the past. With this statement, along with my contact information...
I Can’t Quite Put My Finger On It
Have you ever been working with a teacher and they start to tell you about a new strategy or "program" you are not familiar with, but the description you are...
Beyond Text Features in Nonfiction Instruction
When I think back to my past teaching connected to nonfiction reading, I often (no matter the grade) did a unit on nonfiction text features. We worked for a few...
Putting the Search Back in Research
When I saw an entire subsection in the Common Core Writing Standards devoted to “Research to Build and Present Knowledge,” I rubbed my hands together and said, “It’s time.” My...
Supporting the Transition to Middle School: An Elementary Teacher’s Perspective
As the month of May rolls around and our state testing is completed, my focus shifts to our district’s required database for my fifth graders as they transition to three...
What Information Is Good Information? Smooth and Effective Transitions to Middle School
With each passing year, I accumulate larger piles of data about my incoming middle schoolers: spelling inventory scores, Developmental Reading Assessment scores, state test scores, and district diagnostic scores. Yet...
