Even if you haven't read Rob Buryea's debut novel Because of Mr. Terupt, you are likely familiar with its plot: Mr. Terupt, a fifth grade teacher, is such a phenomenal educator that he manages to bring his students together both as a community of learners and as a family, even as an unforeseen tragedy threatens… Continue reading ‘Mr. Terupt’ = Good Teaching?
Category: Education
Everything I’ve Learned about Illustration Study…
..has not yet been realized. After all, I only began dipping my toe into these lovely waters two years ago, when I first read Katie Wood Ray's fantastic book on the subject, In Pictures and In Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study (2010). But in that short amount of time, I have learned some… Continue reading Everything I’ve Learned about Illustration Study…
What Walking 39.3 Miles (Re)Taught Me About Teaching
A week and a half ago I finished my sixth Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, a two-day event that encompasses 39.3 miles during which its participants walk along the streets, overpasses, and public gardens of beautiful Boston, Massachusetts. (There are also walks that take place in Houston, TX; Washington, D.C.; and Santa Barbara, CA, among other cities… Continue reading What Walking 39.3 Miles (Re)Taught Me About Teaching
Literacy Essentials
Recently a small group of colleagues and I created a document that we intended to be a "gold standard" of sorts for teachers in our K-6 school who currently have the luxury of a 90-minute literacy block. I am posting it here with the hope that my readers could give me some feedback about what… Continue reading Literacy Essentials
“Live Free or Die?” Not When It Comes to Opting Out.
My husband and I are in shock. We have just received a letter from our children's superintendent and elementary school principal denying our request to opt our children out of their state standardized testing, most notably the NECAP and the upcoming Smarter Balanced assessment. This, from a NH district (Live Free or Die!) that many… Continue reading “Live Free or Die?” Not When It Comes to Opting Out.
Math Madness
Can you successfully complete 30 math facts in one minute? If you can't--if you can only successfully complete 20 or 22 (because damn it if you can't automatically recall that 8 + 5 = 13), would you be worried? If the answer is "yes," then I would advise you to grab a nice glass of… Continue reading Math Madness
My So-Called Literacy Life 