AngelaStockman
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Inquiry Teams

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In Data

Becoming a Better Teacher of Writing by Documenting the Unexpected

4 Mins Read

“I develop theories based on lived experiences, not existing theories.” Dr. Brene Brown Traditional researchers and documentarians deepen their learning by exploring the theories shared by the giants who came before them. They study professional literature, seeking best practices that they might test in order to meet their students’ needs. Then, they confirm or deny their viability. Often, the results are anything but unexpected. Grounded theory is different.  When teachers position themselves as grounded…

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In Inquiry Teams

A Review of Protocols in the Classroom: Tools to Help Students Read, Write, Think, and Collaborate

4 Mins Read

One of the funny things about parenting as an educator is that often, your children teach you a great deal about things you think you already know a few things about. Take, for instance, protocols. “We’re doing these things called modules in my English class,” my daughter Nina explained over dinner one autumn evening at the beginning of her eighth grade year. And I’ll admit, my stomach clenched. I wasn’t well acquainted with the New…

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In Documentation

Making and Writing: Get Beyond the Gimmicks

4 Mins Read

This month, I’ll be celebrating the second birthday of Make Writing, the little book that could. When I wrote it, I never imagined that I would get to meet and learn from so many of you who I’ve come to call my colleagues and friends over the last two years. This has been a rewarding journey, and each bend in the road has surfaced new and important questions about making and writing and the relationship…

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In Change

Ten Questions that Will Help You Choose the Best Organizational Story Structure

4 Mins Read

This post is my fifth and last in a series about organizational story writing.  In the first post, I described the form and spoke about why organizational story writing matters.  In the second post, I shared my approach for facilitating a listening session.  The third post defined story writing as more than a mere marketing tool. It’s a process that leads to individual growth and organizational improvement.  The fourth post focused on the importance of…

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In Change

Organizational Story Writing: Defining a Clear Purpose and a Powerful Message

5 Mins Read

This post is the fourth in a series on organizational story writing: The first post defined why organizational story writing matters. The second included the interest survey and listening session protocol that I use with new clients during the pre-writing phase of the work. My third post framed story writing as a learning opportunity that can inspire improved leadership and organizational growth.  Each of these posts includes links out to other helpful resources and tools…

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In Advocacy

Facilitating Learning Through Organizational Story Writing

3 Mins Read

This post is the third in my organizational story writing series. In the first post, I defined the form and shared ten reasons why organizational story writing matters.  Then, I introduced a current client, Jackie James Creedon, in my second post. Here, I included the interest survey that I ask most clients to complete ahead of our work as well as the approach and tools that I use when conducting my initial listening session. These first meetings…

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In Advocacy

Organizational Story Writing: Leading a Listening Session

4 Mins Read

Jackie James Creedon shares a map of future soil testing sites in western New York State. Jackie James Creedon is the founder of Citizens Science Community Resources, an organization that is committed to promoting science-based activism and empowering grass-roots environmental justice and health campaigns. In 2014, Jackie received an award from the Environmental Protection Agency for her courageous efforts to lead an investigation in our community that took down Tonawanda Coke, a local factory…

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In Design Thinking

Ten Reasons Why Organizational Story Writing Matters

2 Mins Read

More and more often, I’m invited to work not only with school districts, but with other organizations that are interested in telling their stories. Stories matter. They center us. They propel us forward. They change the trajectories of our work and our lives and the lives of the people we serve. They’re bigger than branding, and they’re far more than marketing tools. That’s why it’s important to value the story writing process as much as…

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In Assessment

Book Review: Simplifying Common Assessment by Kim Bailey and Chris Jakicic

3 Mins Read

Nearly ten years into my career as an independent education consultant, I can say with confidence that a large portion of my time has been devoted to supporting teachers with assessment design. If you’ve walked a similar path, then you know how hard and humbling this work is. Perhaps, like me, you stand on the shoulders of assessment giants like Douglas Reeves, Rick Stiggins, Dylan Wiliam, Susan Brookhart, or James Popham. Perhaps you still define yourself as…

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In Assessment

Empathy Mapping, Brain Writing, and Teachers Who Tell Their Learning Stories

4 Mins Read

This spring, I had the opportunity to work with teachers from southern Erie and Cattaraugus Counties. Our initial sessions challenged teachers to define writers’ craft, the process, and the values and habits of masterful writers. Then, we considered how the progression of these skills and dispositions builds and evolves as experience is gained. Teachers returned to their classrooms with new ideas to consider and test. As I prepared to see them again last week, I hoped that…

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