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Today I did a writing lesson on voice with my students. Each of the members of my Professional Learning Community (PLC) decided to choose a trait from the 6 +1 Traits of Writing and teach a lesson as a way to become more familiar with the traits. I chose voice because I find that while… Read more

I have started doing a series of Wednesday afternoon sessions for teachers at my school on Writer’s Workshop. The first session was this week. I love doing these workshops for teachers because it helps me articulate my philosophy and practice. They help me think through the what and why of my practice. They keep me… Read more

Yesterday, at Teacher’s Convention in Calgary, I heard Alfie Kohn speak. Although I’ve read articles he has written I had never seen him in person. If you ever get the chance to attend one of his lectures don’t walk, run, to see him! He is passionate about children and teachers. He wants to keep classroom… Read more

Last week my students presented what they had learned about Guatemala to three different groups of classes at my school. It was part of the now annual Celebration of Learning. Although it started out as a way to highlight the Latin American holiday of Carnaval it has taken on a life of its own. We… Read more

The answers depend on the questions you ask. What a simple and provocative statement! When we worry about students who don’t seem to be making progress we often start by asking questions such as these: –Why can’t F. retell simple stories? –Why does F. get a blank look on her face when you ask her… Read more

A question I posed in my previous post – how can I be held responsible for those things over which I have little or no control, such as a family’s socioeconomic status – begs an answer. Although I can’t be held responsible for a family’s socioeconomic status, I do have a moral responsibility to advocate… Read more

I’ve been thinking about the term accountability. According to Wikipedia, accountability is defined as: In the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences.… Read more

Unbelievable, but true! The last time I wrote an entry in this blog, that nobody even knows about yet, was almost a year ago. So, my New Year’s resolution for this year is to write an entry once a week and to let others know about this blog, especially parents. In less than two months… Read more

Since we’re just a few days away from 2008 I feel compelled to write this post before the year ends. This is has been an incredible beginning to the school year for me as a teacher. I ask myself what it is that has worked so well this year that didn’t work well last year.… Read more

This post was supposed to have begun thus: The first day of school is officially over. Then, the first day of school was over and I hadn’t gotten around to blogging or journaling anything. The same thing happened every day after that. Before I knew it, the first day and week of school were over… Read more