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Inspiration

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I’ve been rereading Vicki Spandel’s Creating Young Writers: Using the Six Traits to Enrich Writing Process in Primary Classrooms over the last week, in anticipation of the summer that I have ahead of me. Part of it will be spent working with teachers of very young writers, and part of it will be spent working with writers of this age myself. My own daughters’ primary teachers reminded parents that their most important objective was helping…

In a conversation earlier this morning, I found myself struggling to articulate a vision statement that I’ve been cooking up in my head for quite some time now. And then someone really wonderful suggested that I worry less about the statement and more about the vision for now. She asked that I consider drawing, gathering photographs or clippings, or collecting other artifacts that might reflect this vision that is still taking shape. She suggested that…

Okay okay okay! So, we’re going to play a little game with ELA standards for a minute. I don’t care whose standards they are. Could be the ones from my state or your state or whoever’s state. Now, I’m wondering what would happen if we took the real work of kids, the work that they do outside of school, on their own time (because they love doing it) and we introduced them to the standards and asked…

My daughter Laura skipped four days of school this week. So did Noah. They were accompanied by dozens of other kids from all over the globe who met in Boise, Idaho to participate in the Special Olympics World Games Global Youth Summit. I know that Laura and Noah are grateful to their teachers for supporting them on this one. Laura did her homework on the plane, and Noah shared his accomplishments with his classmates upon…

My daughter Laura invited me to tag along with her on her trip to Idaho this week for the Special Olympics World Games. She’ll be blogging about her experiences here and all that she is learning, but I wanted to introduce the readers who follow me here to Noah Gray. Laura got to hang out with him last night because both of them were asked to speak at a dinner for the Global Youth Activation…

Planning to launch a literature circles experience requires teachers to begin with the end in mind. Considering what we want kids to know and be able to do at the end of the journey is a good place to begin, and rather than focusing on teaching specific books or titles, attending to identified skills and essential questions lends meaning and purpose to the work that will be done. Students should be reading books that are appropriate…

A whole lot of money is often spent on district-wide professional development days. Often, these events occur two or three times a year, feature an inspiring speaker (or one that was supposed to be), and supply teachers with a fistful of great ideas that evaporate upon contact with the realities of the classroom…particularly when little follow-up support is provided in the aftermath. This year, schools are facing an even larger challenge: cuts in funding. Last…

That’s what the research process is truly about, wouldn’t you agree? So much of what we hope to teach can begin with what kids are passionate about, and many of the teachers I work with know from experience that when new learning journeys are fueled by passionate inquiry the rewards are great. How do we help kids define and begin chasing their passions as researchers? How do we help them integrate what they love with what we want them…

Studio kids and teachers have been spending the last several weeks writing presents for those who mean the most to them, and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s get-together at Daemen College. Some will be participating in peer review, others will be peer-editing and revising, and all of us are excited about being interviewed by one of our own. Sarah Hanson is a ninth grade student from Alden High School and a newly published reporter. She writes…