My good friend, Melissa Hassell is writing today for That Thing You Do! Melissa has been in the elementary classroom from first to fifth grade and is now an instructional coach on a PreK-6 campus. A couple of years ago, Melissa experimented with a family book club on her campus. I got a chance to …
I’m so honored that Ariel Bealer is today’s guest blogger for That Thing You Do! Ariel is a first grade teacher on our campus. She and her students write daily and when I’m able, I sneak into their Writer’s Workshop. You can follow Ariel on Twitter @a_bealer and on Instagram @iheartpenguinz Once a …
I’m so excited today that my friend and co-conspirator, Aubrey Steinbrink is the guest blogger for today’s That Thing You Do! Aubrey is an instructional specialist on a K-6 campus. She’s currently working on her post graduate degree and that makes this blog post even more important. Aubrey took valuable time away from family, studies …
You’ve seen it. The slack-jawed expression from two dozen (plus a few more) tweens staring back at you. It’s terrifying and in my role as instructional coach on our campus there’s nothing that ties my stomach in knots more than that look of indifference. When I accept an invitation to co-teach or model a lesson …
This post generated a lot of interest when it first went live back in December. I’m re-posting this week in an effort to continue this very important conversation. Intervention must be thoughtfully designed for our most fragile readers. Much has been written about RtI. We have protocols and models, research-based practices and progress monitoring tools, …
Wouldn’t it be interesting if we spent more time and energy in education trying for “business as unusual” than supporting a system that works to maintain the status quo? I’m intrigued by Clayton Christensen’s work on disruptive innovation and I believe there’s compelling application for teaching and learning. “Disruptive innovation, a term of art coined …
So honored that Liesl James is sharing her wisdom about behavior here today for That Thing You Do! I’ve known Liesl for several years and now work on the same campus where she is the assistant principal. It’s an amazing thing to work with a campus leader that you are continually learning from each day. …
On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal published an article, The ‘Rock Star’ Librarians Who Choose What Your Kids Read. I was elated to see a large photograph of John Schumacher with a gaggle of elementary kids strategically placed behind the headline. I’m a huge Mr. Schu fan. I read with great interest: “Schumacher is an …
It’s a proud day indeed on today’s That Thing You Do! segment. Proud because I’ve seen Katie Webb start her teaching career and in a few short years look every bit the master teacher. Katie coaches me today through a systematic protocol for supporting ELL students with meaningful and rigorous language and content learning in …
A few weeks ago, I wrote a two-part blog series about why I think it’s so hard to help students learn to summarize. On our state assessment, students from third to eighth grade are required to identify the “best” summary in a multiple choice question format. The data show that kids in our district (and …
