In a recent trip to western Maine, my family sat mesmerized by the glorious visits of a group of hummingbirds to our home in the woods. Visit after visit, each little jewel-colored shimmering bird, eating from the jar of nectar or hovering to look us
"Everyone has a book inside of them, but it doesn't do any good until you pry it out." - Jodi Picoult That is the age-old adage that many educational professionals have pondered over the years. In fact, I believe that to be true, based on my own start in the world of
A couple of years ago, I decided to focus on educational writing in my areas of expertise. I spent a year learning how to watercolor, journal, and decompress after retiring from an incredible career in public education. After several months into retirement, I discovered that
In my National Writing Project summer institute, each morning begins with a participant sharing a short powerful text to use as an inspiration for writing. This last year, NWP fellow Nancy Tacke shared a poem entitled “I Remember.” The poem first listed several intense memories
Just take off the top of your head! Share your reading (and writing) expertise with think alouds. In our last post, “Developing Student Expertise Through Deliberate Practice,” Michael Smith discussed Anders Ericsson’s (Ericsson & Pool, 2016) findings about deliberate practice. For practice to develop expertise, it
My new favorite teaching move is using visual artwork of all kinds to introduce the concepts and strategies I am teaching my students. What’s the itch and where’s the scratch? What’s the itch? That my very diverse students, including underserved populations like refugee and LFS (limited formal
We all want our kids to be college or career ready right? So why do so many of us—parents and teachers—actively support a practice that diminishes this outcome? I’m not talking about standardized tests or education policy being dictated by a billionaire software engineer (at
Vocabulary and comprehension are soul mates! They go together like cheese and crackers, bread and jam, friendship and trust. The more words students have the better they can read and comprehend. With a wealth of words, students can write and be creative and innovative problem solvers. We’ve
Having established that argument is a big deal and worth much of our time and energy as teachers and students, let’s spend some time examining reading and writing today. I am always tweaking the non-freaked out approach (as you’ll see by comparing this post’s diagram with