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Integrating PD into the School Calendar
I made my way around the room, watching staff members slowly and quietly go out the door, noticing a few others hastily catching up on parent emails or commenting on...
Status of the Class: Reflecting on Reading Communities
I have used information from some sort of “status of the class” for most of my teaching years. Asking students at the beginning of reading workshop what they are reading...
A Better Status of the Class
The room was calm and quiet on this Thursday afternoon. Students were settling in to their reading spots and their books. The next 30 minutes would be dedicated to independent...
Linking Literacy and Community at the Start of the Year
At the start of the school year, teachers everywhere strive to build community. A sense of community is vital to our literacy classrooms, so we search for activities to launch...
Mentor Texts for Teachers: Home Is a Place to Begin
Whether it is a grade-level data team, a staff meeting, a special-interest PLC, a session in a conference or EdCamp, or even a deeper dive into writing, I look for...
5 Reasons to Read Grown-Up Books
I got an email containing an update from Rita’s Goodreads account. She had just finished reading Shouting at the Rain. She loved it and gave it a five-star rating. Rita...
Speed Reading
Like many of us, I live in a community with a robust Facebook group made up of parents from all over our district attendance area. Many communities have these groups,...
Managing Take-Home Books
The music begins to play, and readers return to the carpet to share the work they have been doing during reading workshop. The children have begun to settle into a...
Strategies for Sustaining Student Attention
Last October, my family got a puppy. I have extensive experience with dogs from my childhood and pre-parenthood days. I know a few things about training a puppy into a...
Where Confidence Begins
Our neighbor Ed is handy. A couple of weeks ago, he showed us pictures on his smartphone of the additional room he created on the backside of his garage. “Yep,...
Nice to Meet You Again
Recently, I went on a weekend trip with two dear friends whom I have known for years. We spent three days doing what we love most: eating and talking. On...
Forgetting and Remembering
Mr. Pim, my seventh-grade math teacher, had a trademark phrase he used when a student forgot something—a homework assignment, a parent signature, the required brown-paper-bag textbook cover. “I forgot,” the...
Equitable Coaching
We were meeting as a leadership team to discuss the direction for professional development in the second half of the year. Our team is composed of a representative from each...
Setting and Using Classroom Norms
The fifth graders are sitting in our meeting area, some sitting cross-legged on the carpet and some perched on surrounding stools and benches. The minilesson is coming to a close...
Heavy Edits
In college, one of my work-study jobs was in the public communications office. It was my responsibility to write news releases about the goings-on around campus. Various departments would submit...
Homework: I Challenge You!
Excitement filled the air. Through every hallway, in every classroom, students were brimming with joy. It was Fun Run time once again. During this two-week fund-raiser, students remained eager to...
A Homework-Free Classroom
I don’t believe in homework. There. I said it. I am a teacher and a mom, and I don’t believe in homework. My daughters are seven and nine years old....
Helping Teachers Write
Not infrequently, a distant or past friend or colleague will ask me to read something they’ve written. “Will you tell me what you think?” they ask. What they want (what...
Guided Reading for Proficient Readers?
I was excited when I saw Tracy’s name on my “coaching roster.” Tracy is an enthusiastic teacher who is well respected in the school district that had contracted me. I...
Using a Strategy Notebook in Small-Group Instruction
I glanced up at the clock in our classroom. That clock was my nemesis and my guiding light. Twenty minutes. I had 20 minutes left before I had to call...
Helping Students Develop Conversational Identity
At a recent dinner party, my friend’s six-year-old daughter, Anicia, sidled up to me. “You’re a principal, right?” “Yep.” “My teacher says I talk too much.” I smiled. Anicia was,...
