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

In an exchange in yesterday’s blog post, I wrote the following: Juliette…I wanted to plan for something more holistic. This was my first attempt at having everyone reading the same text. I usually just work off whatever students are reading independently. I’m thinking of doing several different kinds of assessments in the fall so that… Read more

Ever since I can remember I have done one-on-one reading and writing conferences with students. I like to think of these as “interviews” or “conversations”. Recently I did reading interviews with my students to culminate our year of online learning. I selected a fiction text on Epic and asked each child to read the first… Read more

I am trying something new on my blog. If I’m being honest, and I aim to always be honest, I’m a little scared to do this. But I’m itching to make a change. To make a difference. To get out of my way and into the world. So, I’m going to take a giant leap… Read more

I have been doing Lisa Sonora’s 30-Day Journal Project. I just finished day #7. Since the journal project is asynchronous, I am not doing it in 30 days, but spreading it out for as long as I want to. I do a prompt whenever I feel the need to be introspective because, for me, this… Read more

Every year it’s the same. We rush to the finish line because it feels as if we can’t get there fast enough. Report cards. IPPs. Farewells. Desks pushed against walls. Chairs stacked to the ceiling…almost. Walls bared. Books put away. Keys returned. Every year it’s the same. And when the last day arrives. The day… Read more

I had every intention of writing a #SOL to share on The Two Writing Teachers Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge last week. It didn’t happen, but I continue to write. I had every intention of finishing report cards by the first due date last Wednesday. I didn’t get there, but I continued working on… Read more