If you haven't been living under a rock, you are aware of the Twitter hashtag #whatif that almost immediately went viral after Secretary of Education (sic) Arne Duncan tweeted this question on December 30: https://twitter.com/arneduncan/status/550014511084609539 Two days later, on January 1, Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post highlighted some of the most compelling #whatif tweets in… Continue reading #Whatif? Gets Personal
Category: Lessons Learned In Combat
The Value(?) of Worksheets
I used to pat myself on the back when I would make the worksheets I subjected my students to rather than use the pre-made blackline masters I'd find in the backs of my Scholastic teacher's guides. This was years after the mimeograph held its odiferous reign in copy rooms across the country, and years before… Continue reading The Value(?) of Worksheets
Why I Teach: A Reminder
Today didn't start out in any way that led me to believe that it would be one of those magnificent teaching days, those days when all of the challenge, the effort, the difficult brain work feels so incredibly and assuredly worth it. I crawled from under my covers desperate to dispel the remnants of the previous night's migraine,… Continue reading Why I Teach: A Reminder
Reflecting on Reflection
"We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience." ~ John Dewey A couple of weeks ago, a teacher with which I am acquainted expressed disappointment with the fact that she (as well as each of her colleagues) was being asked to reflect on her practice. The purpose of the reflection was to identify… Continue reading Reflecting on Reflection
A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days – a sobering lesson learned
Excellent insight into a typical HS student's academic experience. Well worth the read.
Lessons Learned from Nancie Atwell
Last week I had the pleasure of hearing Nancie Atwell speak at the Durham, NH Public Library. I have been an admirer of hers for over fourteen years now, having solidified my role as a Nancie Atwell fangirl since my mentor, Gert, introduced me to the outstanding book In the Middle, the third edition of which is due… Continue reading Lessons Learned from Nancie Atwell
No More Language Arts and Crafts
Wise words from Donalyn Miller, who is not afraid to write what many of us feel. We can do better. We must do better.
I’ll admit that I hold my children’s teachers to a higher than reasonable standard. Would you want my kid in your English class? As a parent, I could be a burr in your saddle. I get that.
I’m not a harassing parent, I promise. Most of my children’s teachers have no idea who I am, other than Celeste and Sarah’s mom. That’s how it should be.
On the other hand, my children’s teachers don’t know who Penny Kittle is. They don’t know who Kristin Ziemke is. They don’t know who Kelly Gallagher is.
Heck, my children’s teachers don’t know who Nancie Atwell and Lucy Calkins are. It doesn’t matter if they’ve read my books about teaching reading, but it does matter when my children’s teachers haven’t read a book or article about teaching reading in 20 years.
A line divides parents who know a lot about reading and their children’s…
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An Important and Magnificent Day
Today is an important and magnificent day. Today marks the day that Ms. Wright, kindergarten teacher extraordinaire, launches writer's workshop with her students. The scene is expertly and purposefully set. Reams of paper sit patiently, waiting to be filled with swirling colors, bold lines, and grand ideas. Brand-new markers gleam. Pencils capped with bright pink erasers lean… Continue reading An Important and Magnificent Day
Teaching the Who, not the What
Throughout the ten years that I worked as a classroom teacher, I remember spending hours upon hours (upon hours) each summer working to develop units and "bare bones" lesson outlines that would give me some sense of what my school year would look like. I would devour professional books and educational web sites--there were few teacher blogs… Continue reading Teaching the Who, not the What
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…
My So-Called Literacy Life 