My daughter started Kindergarten last week. This was a huge milestone for both of us, but we thought we were ready. We had the ‘flippy’ backpack, a fancy new lunch
This summer I took off my literacy consultant hat for two weeks and replaced it with my teaching hat. I taught Writing Camp at Project Write Now for two glorious
On Saturday May 5th, Karen Caine and I held our first Saturday Writing (www.saturdaywriting.com). We had the privilege of working with amazing educators from New Jersey school districts such
There are very few people who would disagree with the idea that talk is an essential part of Writing Workshop. But what kinds of talk should kids do? And how
If you are a teacher, it’s safe to say that you have probably experienced professional development that wasn’t, shall we say, as inspiring as you would like it to be.
Have you ever had an ‘aha’ teaching moment? A moment when you realize you want to make a change to how you’ve always done something. And then even more exciting,
One thing is for sure. Learning is a messy, uncertain process. Many teachers embrace this idea; while others cringe at the thought of anything that is untidy, or not 100%
Do you have time to plan and implement lessons collaboratively with your colleagues? Have you ever watched your students with others, noting what the kids learned and/or are still
Can we change the fate of our students with our optimism? I think we can. Look what optimism did for the pig, Wilbur in the book, Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte contrived
Sometime teaching writing doesn’t have to be hard! Here is a simple technique you can try tomorrow. Often children tell stories and then we encourage them to write those
