Are you looking for some inspiration in 2020? Perhaps you’re feeling the need to get back to the heart and soul of good leadership, or you’d like to hone your observation skills. Or, perhaps you’re looking to inspire systems change throughout your whole district. These new Spring publications from Corwin’s
We find the same issues cropping up in conversations with thousands of teachers across the U.S. You face a high-stakes conundrum when it comes to planning instruction: either create curriculum from scratch, cobbling together their own resources with ones from online repositories that have little to no quality control OR follow a mandated, scripted
If you’ve ever been to a museum, you may have noticed that items on display are organized in specific ways. Displays, by design, pique interest, evoke emotion, or urge action unique to each individual’s experiences. The way items are grouped together, the exhibit label, the
Every time I read aloud Jacqueline Woodson’s The Day You Begin, my heart sings when Angelina and Rigoberto form a bond through their shared stories. For me, this picture book sums up our role at the beginning of the school year---to help children feel connected to the people in their school
We know that reading is imperative for building great writers. We also are beginning to discover and practice the ways that writing is a critical component to creating great readers. For instance, we know that children, even in the earliest grades, often write before they read -- and students can read any word they
To stack the cards in favor of students leading small group discussions, stay with me as I recount a recent visit to an eighth grade class: Students sat in rows. They had just finished reading “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury. At first, students appeared excited about Bradbury’s story. Sitting in the middle of a
You will forever be a character in the story your students will tell. I learned this from our brilliant colleague, Jim Burke; the things we do today will determine which kind of character we will become when the story is told later. Let’s consider for a few minutes how we
Why don't they give spelling tests anymore? * How come teachers don't correct student spelling? * What can I do at home? * Should I buy one of those workbooks this summer? I have been asked these questions more times than I can count. It makes
I wish it were spring, I wish it were spring, I wish it were spring
Many schools are embarking on a schoolwide professional journey that asks teachers to incorporate discipline-specific literacy practices (reading, writing, viewing, reasoning, and communicating) in ways that mirror the practices of experts. This is disciplinary literacy — a necessary shift in instruction and learning that will help students be more prepared