I’ve been spending a lot of time supporting teachers on elementary campuses in a nearby district this year. Their ELA coordinator is faithful to remind teachers and coaches each time they meet that the work they do this year is aligned to Fountas and Pinnell’s Responsive Teaching Cycle. The cycle: Gather data Observe reading behaviors …
When RtI Seems Lacking We could teach almost every student to read by the end of 1st grade. So why aren’t we doing it?–Dr. Richard Allington I spend most days now on elementary campuses speaking with grade level teams, coaches and campus administrators about their students who are not reading on grade level. I’ve spent …
Recently, I was invited to a fifth grade classroom to model for a teacher. She wanted to watch me assess several of her students with a new assessment tool her district introduced earlier this year. Each time I sit down to work with students in this type of scenario, I spend about 7-8 minutes getting …
What a great reading summit Scholastic had in Austin, Texas on July 16. Highlights for me: Jenni Holm being interviewed by John Schu. Donalyn Miller’s keynote. Yuyi Morales keynote to close out the summit. This was the highlight of the summit for me. #brilliantartist #beautifulsoul Getting to meet the 130+ educators in the breakout session …
Pamela Koutrakos’s book, Word Study That Sticks: Best Practices, came to me at the perfect moment. I’d been talking that week with some teachers I support and we needed some new ideas to breathe life in to word study. Word Study That Sticks was the resources I needed to facilitate great discussions when collaborating with …
This blog post was originally published back in 2018, but we need this discussion again. Many teachers are agonizing over their students and how well they’re prepared for various assessments at this time of year. Let’s have a reality check, shall we? How many times did I have this conversation with someone throughout my almost …
A few weeks ago, my good friend Amy Bettis invited me to a publishing party in her kindergarten classroom. It started with donuts and balloons and lots of happy chatter. Her young writers were buzzing with excitement about their own personal “book birthday” celebration. Amy had her students gather on the carpet and one by …
In November, I attended the NCTE Convention in Houston. There were many amazing sessions I attended, but one of the most life-changing was the Friday general session where seven students schooled a convention hall full of educators. Teachers, school administrators, authors, pre-service teachers heard the stories of these remarkable students. We talk often about all …
This is a repost from several months ago. Time to revisit the importance of responsive teaching for our youngest readers. We wring our hands and lament that so many of our students are not learning to read and write. We wonder and debate. We study data and brainstorm solutions. We talk and plan and work …
Who knew that Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s show, Mad Money would speak truth to this 30 year veteran educator? Cramer, who is co-founder of TheStreet, Inc., a best-selling author, with previous experience as a stockbroker and hedge fund manager, has something to say to those of us in education. And what he says is worth …
