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I have a little more than three weeks left of summer vacation before I go back to school. Normally I would be spending most of my summer in a combination of paid and unpaid professional learning activities. Although I had a few opportunities lined up that I was contemplating engaging in this summer, I quickly… Read more

Long time grade 3 teacher Erika McKearney Victor recently gave me some tips with regards to grade 3 reading. I will be teaching grade 3 in September and I’ve never taught grade 3. I’m feeling a bit nervous about what books to read aloud that will get students thinking about social justice issues, such as… Read more

This evening we celebrated my husband’s birthday. We were all there. My oldest daughter, her husband and their two children. My youngest daughter and her husband. My son. And me. In Chicago to celebrate another year around the sun for my husband. Tapas. Paella. Sangria. Yummy desserts. It was lovely. Now we’re back home. For… Read more

Today would have been my parents’ 68th wedding anniversary. A milestone! This got me thinking about other kinds of celebrations, such as birthdays, particularly my students’ birthdays. First, I have a confession to make: I am not the kind of teacher who makes a big deal about birthdays. Over the years, we usually sing happy… Read more

This snippet is not about writing, but about how I will protect my time to do what truly matters to me. This year I’m going to set firm boundaries between home and school. I know I say that every year, but this time I’m actually going to do it. I plan to leave twenty minutes… Read more

Writing workshop. We write. We read. We talk. We make lists. We draw. We share our stories. We ask for feedback. We give feedback. We make choices. We set goals. We nurture our community. We create. We collaborate. We make our writing public. We keep our writing to ourselves. Writing workshop. Cross posted to The… Read more

I am a teacher-writer. I write something every day. I make my writing public even though hitting that publish button is always an act of courage for me. Yet, if I am going to be a better teacher of writing, then I need to put pen to paper often. I need to take risks in… Read more

Yesterday I started to panic a little bit. It feels like the summer is going by way too fast! And, I haven’t read or done half of the things I had intended to do. Today I’m less anxious. But only just a little bit less. 🙂 Last week I wrote about reading. This week I’d… Read more

Thank you to Juliette Awua-Kierematen for getting me thinking about book clubs. I am a big fan of adult book clubs, but I’ve only been in one that I loved. It lasted for two to three years. We’d meet once a month at the houses of the club members. We enjoyed delicious pot luck dinners.… Read more

In yesterday’s blog post, Jill Bless commented, and I am paraphrasing, that teachers might be needing some support to jump start their reading conferences after the school year we’ve all had to endure. And that got me thinking… My reading instruction certainly looked different teaching online. My in person classroom is organized around a workshop… Read more