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Always “On”: Reconsidering Connectivity
A few months ago, I sat in a training for a new online learning management system my school district is rolling out to our middle school and high school students...
Old-Fashioned Resources
Have you ever done this? You go looking for something in a drawer or closet—a paper clip or a roll of Scotch tape—and before you know it, you’ve spent half...
Fostering Thinking Through Play
Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood. Fred...
Getting to Know Writers: The Writing Process Survey
Interest surveys are fairly common in upper elementary and middle school classrooms, especially at the start of a new school year. Teachers want to know their students’ interests, hobbies, and...
Last Chance Workshop
The narrative writing unit had gone on for way longer than I had planned. I had a stack of papers that demanded feedback and not enough time to give them...
Getting to Know Writers: Introduction
Here’s the thing about writing: it is unbearably hard. Right now, I am sitting in the parlor of a bed-and-breakfast at a writing retreat. I chose to write in the...
Digging into Research Questions
As I have been leading a fifth-grade class through a research and information project, I have been writing my own piece about global warming. Global warming had been one of...
Coaching Connections
Recently I attended an intensive weekend yoga retreat. I spent a full day out of my comfort zone, pushing my limits doing things like boat pose in the air while...
Questions for Reflection and Goal Setting with Teachers
We start the school year, and all of a sudden it’s spring. Where did the time go? Even when a fast pace is the result of students experiencing deep learning,...
Making the Most of Small Groups with Jennifer Serravallo (PODCAST)
Jennifer Serravallo is the author of Conferring with Readers and Teaching Reading in Small Groups. In this podcast with Heather Rader she talks about the joys and challenges of grouping...
Understanding Josh: The Audio Reader
Years ago, when I was first working as an assistant principal and charged with managing special education needs, we had a student enrolled in our school who was severely autistic....
Nurturing a Growth Mindset in Young Readers
The growth mindset, a term brought to life by psychologist Carol Dweck, is becoming an ever-present expression in our schools. In her book Mindset, she refers to the growth mindset...
Refining Reflective Practice and Notetaking
Ten years ago, as a first-year middle school teacher, I clumsily juggled piles and piles of information (and that was before standardized testing really amped up!) about my readers and...
Coaching Tool: Evernote
Each time we meet with a group of teachers, leave a classroom after a coaching session, or finish a workshop, we think, I need to remember ______. Inevitably, we think...
Together: Supporting Readers Toward Independence
Walking into Deb Frazier’s first-grade classroom, it was obvious the students were already engaged in their reading workshop choices. Students were sitting around the room in little nooks, on stools,...
Parents in a Foreign Land
For students who are new to the English language, nothing comes easy: They have to work hard to figure out a new language, new customs, new foods, new friendships, and...
Lester Laminack on Bullying (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Franki Sibberson chats with Lester Laminack about bullying. Lester is the author of beloved books for children and teachers, including Saturdays and Teacakes and Unwrapping the Read Aloud. You...
“Reinventing Language Every Time You Write” with Ralph Fletcher (PODCAST)
Ralph Fletcher has given teachers playful and provocative ideas for years when it comes to word study. His writer's view of vocabulary learning challenges many teaching assumptions. Ralph is the...
Engaging Not Blaming: Increasing Parent Involvement
“Why don’t we have a good turnout at curriculum night? Don’t our parents care about their child’s education?" It’s human nature, unfortunately, to resist holding up the mirror when our...
Writing Models with Kelly Gallagher (PODCAST)
Kelly Gallagher, the best-selling author of Readicide and Reading Reasons, talks about the importance of teachers modeling writing for students. You can read more about Kelly's work at his website: http://kellygallagher.org/ A full transcript...
Putting the “Gradual” Back into Gradual Release of Responsibility
You know you have heard a great keynote speech when a few lines stay with you months after the conference has ended. This happened for us recently. Doug Fisher was...
