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Growing Talk About Reading
The past year has been a steep learning curve for Kate. After nine years in a fourth-grade classroom, she moved to a literacy interventionist position, in which she pulls struggling...
I Still Am
When my oldest son was young, he would spend hours rooting through the dirt, inspecting what lived underneath the rocks in our yard and carefully examining every crawling insect he...
Celebration and Reflection for Teacher Growth
The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. —Anna Quindlen We’ve been going about school improvement...
Talking Through Characters
Our sixth graders are getting ready to write realistic fiction stories, and one of the important parts of the process is getting to know their characters. In the past, I...
Stepping Away from the Conversation
I recently watched a teacher artfully—and unexpectedly—remove herself from student talk just when it got sticky. The class of second graders had just finished reading about a group of animals...
Taming the Voices in Our Heads
Our entire lives, [Eckhart Tolle argued], are governed by a voice in our heads. This voice is engaged in a ceaseless stream of thinking—most of it negative, repetitive, and self-referential....
Summer Literacy
“What can I do to help my son and daughter stay sharp and not lose momentum? They have come so far this school year, and I am afraid they will...
Student-Centered Notes
I wrote my first research paper when I was in eighth grade. I believe my assigned topic was the death penalty, and I think I probably felt passionately about whatever...
Staff Retreat
If you’ve ever flattened on the couch with a bad cold or an overload of exhaustion, the last thing you want to hear from someone is, “You really should get...
Becoming More Inclusive
We are having more and more conversations in our district and beyond that address the importance of inclusive practices in all aspects of education. At a recent faculty meeting, we...
Whose Point of View Matters? Considering Multiple Perspectives
As the students transitioned from the minilesson to independent reading, I saw one student kick another student’s book. It was a soft kick—basically a tap—but it happened. One student was...
Spring Cleaning
As a child, I spent a lot of time at Fannie Weaver’s house. Fannie was the matriarch of the Amish family who lived up the hill from my parents’ farm,...
Narrative Mini-Charts
I spend a lot of time making charts. I have multiple sketchbooks that I’ve filled up with charts over the years: anchor charts, strategy charts, learning progressions. These books have...
Fewer Books and More Options at the End of the Year
As the end of the year approaches, we all receive that dreaded email. The one that reads something like this: Dear Friend, It’s hard to believe it is already May...
Key Elements of Short Stories
I teach a creative writing elective, and one of the most anticipated assignments of the class is to write a short story. Students get excited about the chance to make...
Closing Out Professional Communities
As I thought about our last meeting together for the school year, I wrestled with how to make it just right. This would be the last time we’d sit down...
Growing Toward Stories
At a recent meeting with two teachers who teach combined kindergarten and first-grade Learning Language Disabilities (LLD) classrooms, they expressed concern about their recent training in writing workshop. There’s just...
Alternatives to Graphic Organizers
The first time it happened was on a balmy November day. The room was quiet except for the sound of fingers clicking on keys and a soft baroque instrumental melody...
Writer’s Notebook Tweaks
Have you ever noticed how even the things you love sometimes annoy you? Perfection is hard to come by, and small, niggling issues tend to pop up and overshadow our...
Understand, Uncover, and Undertake
The school day was over, and the hallways were that type of quiet caused by the sudden absence of the cacophony of students during dismissal. The silence seemed to fill...
Best Intentions with No Assumptions
I arrived at the high school to pick up my son from maker club. As I was walking toward the front doors, a woman standing in the parking lot asked...
