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Good Work, Writer
I ring the chimes in our meeting area, and the hubbub of excited voices comes to a halt, students' hands go to their heads, and their eyes turn to me....
Investing in Our Collective Humanity: Nurturing an Intentional Cultural Life
The African philosophy of Ubuntu teaches us a remarkable lesson: that we are human only through the humanity of others. Ubuntu means I am because you are, or We are...
The Power of Using a Viewing Lens
Here is the definition of lens from Merriam-Webster: Something that facilitates and influences perception, comprehension, or evaluation Last June, I visited Rocky Mountain National Park with my family. We hiked...
Assessment in Classroom Book Clubs
Once books are selected, groups are arranged, and reading begins, it is time to think about assessment. Because I work in a district that requires grades, I cannot spend four...
Three Strategies for Revising Informational Writing
My youngest child was the first one to move out on his own, and the first thing my husband did was set up a toolbox for him. He said, "Someday...
Letting Informational Mentors Lead the Way
After reading Albert Marrin’s book Oh, Rats!, our sixth graders possess some fascinating knowledge about rats, revealed to them through a wide variety of details that range from absolutely repulsive...
One-Page Reading Response: A Simple Approach to Complex Assessment
After a school year filled with literary analysis essays, I was looking for another way my sixth graders could share textual analysis. I came across “A Simple Trick for Success...
Identifying Story Elements
Well, that’s interesting, I thought as I thumbed through the completed set of plot diagrams in my hand. We were using plot diagrams to help students track the events of...
Implementing Classroom Book Clubs (Part Two)
Once book clubs have been established and a reading plan is created, it is time to begin reading. The first round of book clubs begins after independent reading has been...
Coaching in Community: Co-Creating Learning Spaces (Part I)
People whose teaching lives have been positively impacted by coaching know that coaching can be transformational. However, the other side of the narrative holds just as much truth: Some teachers...
Getting Started with Classroom Book Clubs (Part 1)
After reading a great book, one of the first things I want to do is find someone else who has read it and talk to them about my thoughts, feelings,...
Less Is More: Using Novels in Verse in the Classroom
It’s an unfortunate fact that many students who enter my class don’t identify as readers and haven’t read a book on their own in some time. Independent reading is a...
Read Alouds Aren’t Just for Children
I love to start literacy team meetings with a read aloud. It is typically a picture book, although I sometimes select a poem or an excerpt from a novel I...
Read Aloud Magic
This is my most cherished time of the day. Gathered with students on the floor, I am sitting just above them on a stool so I can feel closer to...
Our Brains on Happiness
We’ve found something we now call the happiness advantage, which is when the brain is positive, it has an unfair advantage over the brain that is negative, neutral, or stressed....
Learning from Lasso: Cultivating a Coaching Mindset in New Literacy Coaches
In 2021, Ted Lasso won seven Emmy Awards. If you’ve seen the program, just hearing the show’s title likely causes you to smile and then to say, either internally or...
Understanding the Beautiful World of Being Multilingual Through the Lens of Brilliance and Complexity
I often get questions about teaching multilingual students, and the experience can feel like the person is asking for a checklist. Let me explain. When I lead professional development, whether...
Anthologies to Diversify Middle School Reading Instruction
When Safa interrupted a story to call out in excitement, “My mom is from Morocco just like this family,” I knew including “Home” by Hena Khan as part of our...
Building Empathy Through Gratitude
Late in the fall, I sat in my classroom after school, overwhelmed and unsure. Almost two months into my first year of teaching, 27 third graders were more than keeping...
Picture Books to Help Navigate Difficult Emotions (Booklist)
It wasn't until a friend left the picture book Grandad’s Island by Benji Davies on her front porch that Hannah realized how badly she needed it. While navigating the unexpected...
Reclaiming What It Means to Flourish
These two words are all around me, and I’m going to lose my mind if I hear them again: learning loss. For the ones who get to read this article,...
