Internship Coordinator Sheri Barsottelli and Monica Wrobel, Studio Fellow and Intern When I stand in front of a group of teachers and advocate for change, I tend to connect with those in the crowd who speak my language. When I coach inside of schools, I tend to learn a great deal from those who are eager to accomplish the same. When I facilitate Studio sessions, I find myself in the company of those I…
“Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.” CCR.W.6 Last week, I had the honor of visiting Molly Koelle’s classroom. Molly is a teacher at Roy B. Kelley Elementary School in Lockport, New York. I’ve been supporting teachers and administrators there for several years now, and when Molly invited me to drop in and observe her in action during her literacy block, I knew I would…
Read this book. “Too often, people think the idea of letting students choose their own topic or text comes from the romantic notion that adults shouldn’t interfere with children’s development, that it should be allowed to unfold naturally. Letting kids “do what they want” sometimes strikes observers as quaintly soft and naive. This may be because some teachers express the principle of choice as a negative: ‘In writer’s workshop, you don’t assign the topic. Kids…
“Some of my former students came back to see me this year,” she said. “They graduated a couple of years ago. When they were here, they really struggled, but they wanted to do well, and they listened to me when I told them I could help them. I helped them read. I helped them write. I gave them strategies that got them through the tests. When they complained, I promised it would be worth it.…
Much of this week has been spent in conversation with teachers and administrators who are beginning to unpack the Common Core Learning Standards and determine entry points into meaningful work with them. For this reason, I was happy to find this invitation in my inbox today. Interested in receiving the newsletters in the mini-series described below? You can sign up here. Conversations about the Common Core will begin unfolding on the Learner Centered Initiatives Ltd.…
“But what about technology?” that little voice at the back of my head was nagging while I was working with Cheektowaga writers last month. “Teach the writer, not the writing,” a different one reminded me. This bit of wisdom from Lucy Calkins continues to transcended time, in my experience. If someone were to ask me, I guess I teach the writer, not the tools. This isn’t to say that the writers I work with stick…
Listen. It’s not just about the kids. We don’t get to choose the teachers we work with either. We don’t get to pick the ones who meet our ideal. We are called to serve the educators who walk through our door each day, so they may serve their students well. Want to help them? Watch them. Listen to them. Think about them. Create for them. Let them create for you and for others. We need…
Listen. You don’t get to teach the kids you prefer to teach. You don’t get to pick the ones who meet your ideal. That isn’t who you were hired to serve. You were hired to serve the kids who walk through your door each day. Want to help them? Watch them. Listen to them. Think about them. Create for them. Let them create for you and for others. Teach them, and quit comparing them to…
It’s been interesting, what I’ve learned about the schools and the kids and the teachers that I’ve worked with since I’ve made walk-throughs a fundamental part of planning professional learning experiences and assessing the impact that the work might be having. Might is an important word. I began asking to walk through buildings and visit classrooms prior to beginning staff development a couple of years ago, when I realized that I needed more information before…
One of my friends retired recently, and while we were out celebrating her new future, she got to thinking about the number of kids she taught during her thirty year career. Her estimated total hovered somewhere around 3500, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she still remembered every student’s name, where they went on to work or learn or play later in life, and what their favorite books were. She was this kind of teacher,…