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Using Self-Portraits as an Assessment Tool for Early Writers
“Becca, you have the data you need for your first writing small groups before the school year even starts.” I scrunched my brow while I processed what my friend Katie...
Fostering Math Identities with Picture Books
As the new school year began, I started setting up my classroom and gathering books I might read while thinking about launching each of my workshops. There were books about...
Developing and Listening to Your Inner Voice During Minilessons
Twenty-five five-year-old kids sit on the multicolored rug staring up at me…ME! I stare back and can’t help but let my mind wander to the thoughts swirling around in my...
The Art of Noticing: Have Your Students Played with Language Today?
for anyone trying to discern what to do with their life: PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO. that’s pretty much all the info u need. —Amy Krouse Rosenthal,...
Author Moves: More Than “Lots of Detail”
I always love getting recommendations from students—books, poems, essays, whatever they have been enjoying. I always knew it was going to be a good day when students met me at...
How to Hire a Great Teacher
In my most recent book, I guide school leaders to better support teaching and learning. It serves as a pathway away from traditional supervision and evaluation practices. The goal is...
Considerations for AI in the Classroom
When I first heard of ChatGPT, we were already into the second semester of the school year, when my capacity for learning about a new technology is admittedly very low....
Leveraging AI in Elementary Literacy
The often overused quote of Edward Bulwer-Lytton—“The pen is mightier than the sword”—is often used to describe the awesome power of the written word and its destructive possibilities. I have...
Making PLCs Public
One of my favorite aspects of instructional coaching is the aerial view of learning in the school. I get the opportunity, in one walk-through of the school, to see a...
Writing Will Help
“It was a hard recess,” the recess duty teacher said to me. Although it wasn't what I wanted to hear, it also wasn’t a surprise. There is a point in...
Building Teacher Confidence, Building Leaders: The Power of Observation
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. —Theodore Roosevelt Confidence is a necessary part of our profession. Let’s face it: When we are in front of multiple groups of dynamic...
Navigating the Science of Reading: How to Hold a Professional Conversation About Teaching Readers
A popular and contentious topic in education is the science of reading. It’s hard to miss the stress-inducing debates about the best way to teach readers. It is healthy to...
Partnering Phonics and Poetry
I'm wondering, like I've wondered many times before, how I can fit in more time for phonics instruction for the beginning readers I teach. I know my students need more...
My Teaching Toolbox (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this article, I introduced you to Mason and Isaac. You might remember they were each struggling in their own way with identifying the important events in...
Small Shifts That Make a Big Difference
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. ― attributed to Maya Angelou I noticed something interesting about Sophia’s eyes. I had...
A Richer Picture: Assessing Our Students as Readers (And Not Just in Reading)
Independent reading is not merely the ability to decode a text with minimal errors. Nor is it simply the ability to answer correctly the teacher's questions. Independent reading is the...
My Teaching Toolbox (Part 1)
It was clear to me that Mason was struggling to pull out the important events from the biography we were reading in our intervention group. It was a fascinating story...
Does Gender Impact Reader Engagement?
Throughout my teaching career, I have thought a lot about gender when making text selections. For instance, when deciding on a text for a whole class to read, I want...
Connect with a Larger Community!
Human connections are deeply nurtured in the field of shared story. —Jean Houston Eleven years ago I wrote my first article for Choice Literacy. I had written a reflection paper...
Holding Space for Counter-Narratives That Honor Communities
Rudine Sims Bishop changed our views of children’s literature when she explained that books can be mirrors of our own lives, windows into somebody else’s life, and sliding glass doors...
Considering Positionality and Developing New Sight Lines
Your identity, your thoughts, and your experiences influence the way that you relate to a text. This is your positionality as a reader, and it’s important to consider your positionality...
