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Free writing. Journal writing. I’ve shunned this in the past thinking that it was a go-to for teachers wanting to include writing in their classrooms without actually having to teach writing. But it turns out I call it silent writing and it’s basically the same thing. My students and I write for 5 minutes at Read more

Who’s tired of hearing about the Science of Reading (SoR) advocates and their accusations that teachers don’t teach phonics and that’s why kids aren’t reading at “grade level”, whatever that means? I know I am. And, here I thought that the irrelevant ranking of kids reading at a 3.7 grade level was a thing of Read more

I’m sick. Again. But this time I’m trying hard not to crawl into a “crud hole”, as my children like to call it. But I’m restless. I’m aware of a rising sense of anxiety or nervousness: what am I going to do so that the politics of work don’t get to me. I do that Read more

Over the last couple of years I’ve been reflecting on the quality of the relationships I have with particularly challenging children. I think I haven’t been true to my core as a teacher. I have forgotten to emphasize the importance of connections with students, especially those that are hard to teach and reach. I have Read more

It has been months since I sat down to write anything of significance. Other than the occasional email, to-do lists, lesson planning and weekly updates to families , I’ve consciously not been writing. Why? Until I stopped writing, I had been trying to live what I thought was the correct version of a writerly life. Read more

I missed writing a blog post last week. I was exhausted – the story of this school year – and I let myself slip into that exhaustion until I had convinced myself I just didn’t have the energy to put pen to paper or, in this case, fingers to keyboard. But yesterday while I was Read more

I am sweating bricks. (I know the correct word here isn’t sweating, but it’s the closest to how I’m feeling and it’s the most appropriate word I can use in a public forum.) I am sweating bricks. Why all the fuss, you ask? Well, we have a new K – 3 curriculum in the works Read more

Yesterday I attended a session about diversity, equity and inclusion sponsored by my provincial teachers’ association. The presenter was well-prepared and shared interesting information. He used story telling and statistic to develop his argument and line of thinking. He emphasized that most interactions are about how validated or not we feel. He said that everyone Read more