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 …
You know, it used to be that to have a polite conversation, we just had to follow the advice of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, “Stick to the weather and to your health.” But with climate change and anti-vaxxing, those subjects are not safe either. …
I’ve lost count of the times teachers are asked about the fidelity of guided reading in their classrooms during a data meeting when students’ achievement (or the lack of) is being discussed. There are other components of a balanced approach to language arts instruction and I’m confused as to why they are so easily forgotten. …
Dear Sir, Thank you for the unforgettable lesson in early American history. I came to your fifth grade class to support your new teacher, and instead I got schooled that day. When I discovered that day’s lesson was about the early slave trade in our original colonies, I was concerned. I, a white woman, looked …
I’ll never forget walking my daughter to school on her first day as a kindergarten student. We lived in Austria at the time and the public kindergarten she was to attend was only a few blocks from our home. I felt especially anxious because Paige didn’t speak German and the kids in her class didn’t …
Years ago, I was part of a group trained in my district to be a Curriculum Facilitator. That’s a fancy title for the person who represented their campus at district curriculum writing meetings. My title meant that I wrote curriculum with a team of other teachers based on input from the teachers I represented from …
