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Renewing Energy in the Classroom
Have you ever thought about a word that you know well, yet you'd struggle to articulate an actual definition of it if asked? I recently had this experience with the...
Creating a Culture Where Everyone Leads
A few years ago, I came home and announced that I’d be doing a different job at my school the next year. My youngest son looked incredulous. “Don’t be offended,”...
Math Debates: A Powerful Sense-Making Routine
In a bag of marbles, 3⁄5 of the marbles are blue and the rest are red. If the number of red marbles is doubled and the number of blue marbles...
Engaging Kids in Reading Intervention
I had a lot of fears moving from the classroom into the role of reading interventionist. I didn’t sleep very well after accepting the position as interventionist because my fears...
Questions to Ask When Reading the Morning Message
It is morning meeting, and I watch several children avoid looking at the morning message plastered on the screen. Their lack of engagement quickly reminds me of how Covid disrupted...
Capturing Classroom Currents
As a coach, I have the amazing opportunity to see classrooms through an objective outside view, but even more, to see the art, the creativity, the ebb and flow of...
Best Wrong Answer
“You want us to get the answer wrong?” Meera asks. “Yes, I want you to think about common mistakes a fourth grader might make on this problem. What is the...
Picture Books with Recipes to Foster Math Engagement
It never fails. The years when I read Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco, the last page turns into a flurry of questions. What is in a thunder cake? Did you...
Math Is Everywhere
“Look, Mrs. Parks, there is math in my snack!” “There’s math in my snack too!” “That tree is math—it’s a triangle!” As I marveled at these noticings (and snapped some...
A PLC Planning Template to Help Focus Work with Teachers
“But what is your goal?” Ann asked after listening to me (Kate) talk for several minutes about ideas for an upcoming PLC with the second-grade team. I had no immediate...
Building a Classroom Library with Students (and Navigating the Tricky Parts)
I intentionally started the school year with hundreds of books scattered on a few shelves because I wanted the children to construct the library. And yes, after 10 days in...
Spontaneous Text Sets
When it was time for me to take back the class from my student teacher, I contemplated starting up author studies. The idea overwhelmed me. The rhythm of this year...
Knowing Genres
“Mrs. Robek, what is blue tape?” I knew this question would come one day. Katie was book shopping in our classroom library. When I started teaching, my mentors modeled using...
Yes, and . . . A Collaborative Philosophy
I approach Jean as she lies on the stage, hands in the air, moving them in a semi-rhythmic twisting fashion. “Hey, Jean, whatcha’ doin’?” I offer, almost complacently. “I’m putting...
Lifting the Quality of Hands-Down Conversations
Before we begin our seventh whole-class hands-down conversation, I ask the class, “What do you notice about our hands-down conversations? What is working well, and what could we do even...
Making Time for Poetry
I grew up in a small town, and although it was a wonderful place to experience childhood, there wasn’t a lot there. If we wanted to go to the zoo,...
Hands-Down Conversations in the Primary Grades
It’s 8:25 in the morning on the third day of school. Most students are seated in a circle on the rug, waiting for a few others to arrive. Students walk...
Establishing Independent Reading Is Like Planting Seeds
The beginning of the year is an exciting time: new possibilities, fresh faces, shy smiles. There’s a lot to teach, and I tend to over-plan, moving lessons from one day...
Let’s Upskill: How to Revive and Transform Instruction to Serve Today’s Learners
Summer is a great time to think of ways to “upskill” our instruction. At the beach, on the back porch, and when walking the dog in the sunshine, we can...
Using Video to Launch Hands-Down Conversations
Typically, when I launch whole-class hands-down conversation with students, I choose a beloved picture book—perhaps All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold or You Matter by Christian Robinson. I love these...
Reading Threads
I have a confession. I have never read Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s The War that Saved My Life. Despite the fact that I am certain I would love it, it has...
