This video has gone viral in my facebook community and for good reason: Buffalo is a fantastic place to live and work and raise a family. I love it here, and I guess the proof of that lies in the reality that each time my husband and I consider moving out of state, the only thing that really keeps us back is our love of this unique little city that we’ve always called home. So…
Alice came to a fork in the road. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” responded the Cheshire cat. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.” ~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Many of us use the start of the new school year to refine our vision of the difference we hope to make in our buildings and in the field as a whole. How…
She’s been a fellow of the WNY Young Writers’ Studio for three years now. Every August, she devotes a week of her life to the study of what learning communities are and how she’s grown as a result of her participation in ours. She comes back every other month throughout the school year. She visits our ning almost daily. She connects herself to those who can help her, and she reaches out to do the…
Two years ago, a writer I know showed up to one of our Studio sessions looking pretty glum. As one of the editors of her high school’s literary magazine, she was nothing short of disgusted by the behavior that some of her fellow editors were exhibiting. Having crowned themselves the school’s elite writers, they had taken it upon themselves to stand in harsh judgment of their peers, mocking the work that others submitted, and making…
We crossed this bridge in Connecticut on Sunday night, landing once again at the Trinity Conference Center for our annual retreat. This is where my year ends and begins. What will your legacy be? This was the question that greeted me upon arrival my very first year, and it’s the one I return to now. I’m wrestling with some questions right now. They’ve kept me quiet here and everywhere online this summer, and this is…
Photo Credit: Laura Stockman Summer is a time unto itself. In our family, we draw deep boundaries around the months of June, July, and August. The rhythm of our life together changes, and while the pace never seems to slow, the content of our days becomes distinctly different. It’s a disruption I long for every year–one that seems to slow me down and wake me up simultaneously. Sometimes, this feels unsettling. Over the course of…
Internet filtering is a reality wherever I work. I’m sure it will remain so for some time to come, and in most cases, for good reason. I’m fortunate to work in places where many of the tools that I prefer to use are open, including Google tools and YouTube and even Facebook. When things are blocked, all of the administrators that I work with are happy to open sites up in order to facilitate great…
I bought some new books to devour this week. And I’ve added a new blog to my reader, too. I’m thinking….I like the way Claudia thinks. You can follow her on Twitter too.
I’m not wild about Interactive White Boards. My reasons are fairly simple– we don’t expect young people and teachers to identify their real learning and creative purposes often or early enough, and I question how IWBs facilitate this well. I feel it’s important to begin most learning there, and I have a hunch that when we overlook this, we increase the chances of integrating technology in ways that don’t serve any one very well. So…
How are you celebrating National Poetry Month? Some ideas: Bud Hunt is publishing a photograph a day on his blog as a means of prompting poets, and if you haven’t visited the comments section to see what has transpired as a result, I highly recommend. The New York Times invites readers to celebrate poetry with them in 11 different ways. New and timid poets often begin by mimicking the work of their favorite poets or…