Happy Holidays everyone! I was up early this morning, browsing through my reader and stumbling upon posts that have a common theme: it’s no surprise that this year, many people are eager to give gifts that cost little in terms of cash they may not have or trash that clutters up the planet. I’m thinking about the slew of new possibilities available to all of us, thanks to the web, and I spent yesterday sharing some of these…
I’m grateful for so many things today: my husband and my children and our collective health. I’m grateful for our sunny little home and our friends, who fill our lives with laughter and a deep sense of belonging. I’m grateful for the work that I’ve been able to do this year and the teachers and administrators that I’ve come to know in the process. I’m also grateful for the friends and colleagues who make up my…
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people…
I observed an *amazing* lesson today. Lisa Hoeflich, a middle school teacher that I’ve become acquainted with this year, pushed into a sixth grade classroom to help students build background knowledge of paleontology and identify main ideas in different text types. She led with a think aloud, targeting key words in a piece of poetry to expand upon her understanding of what a paleontologist did. I loved the fact that she focused on the words that…
There are a lot of difficult conversations going on around me lately, in every school that I am working in. Everyone is calling for meaningful change, which is never an easy call to answer, and as we begin treading those very deep waters, the threat of drowning in an ocean of need becomes very real. This week, I’m appreciating the fact that the work I’m involved with has been guided by a clear purpose. Much thought went into defining what teachers…
Thoughts?
“Well, I hope now that he’s been elected, he can live up to that great promise of change that he’s been prattling on about for two years.” Barack Obama hadn’t even made his acceptance speech last night when comments like this started winding their way through the web, and I wasn’t surprised. Realizing change is a complicated thing and so many of us are desperate to see things happen quickly. But it’s never about what…
Today is Blog Action Day, and I’ve been spending the last week or so trying to conceptualize a proper post for this event. There are a thousand or more ways to write about poverty and so much that can be done to battle it. Too often, the topic overwhelms me. It’s hard to know where to begin…..so I’m starting small. Conversations about poverty always leave me remembering my great grandmother, who traveled here from Europe all alone…
I spent much of last evening and this morning helping my daughter Laura reflect on what she’s accomplished as a blogger this year and what she would like to do next in terms of helping others and learning more. These last ten months have been an interesting journey, and we’ve discovered a lot in the process. Laura has learned a great deal about blogging, of course, and what began as a curiousity about the tool…
I had a lovely weekend. Saturday was spent with the writers and teachers of the WNY Young Writers’ Studio. Several new high school students joined us this time around, and we welcomed Pam Marchewka-Cornwell, a teacher from Alden High School, to the community as well. We used our time together to explore the ways in which we might gift others with our writing, which is a goal that we’re preparing for in anticipation of the…