Thoughts?
Over the last few days, I’ve been gearing up for a conference focusing on new ways to engage reluctant readers. In my travels, I’ve stumbled upon some valuable resources that have me reflecting on my own work with kids who don’t enjoy reading, and I’m blown away by the new potential that the web provides for getting students excited about books! I may not be able to use these discoveries in my own classroom this…
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…
In her book Literacy Coaching: The Essentials, Katherine Casey shares her experiences and the wisdom gained from her work as a school-based literacy coach. Casey was fortunate enough to find herself mentored by teacher-leader Lucy West. The second chapter of her book highlights the important ways in which her relationship with West enabled her to grow into her role as a coach: “During our teacher-leader training sessions, whenever we complained about teachers who were, in…
Ten months ago, my eleven year old daughter took on a year-long commitment to service. Beyond that, though, she took on a year-long commitment to blogging in support of that work, and this meant that her dad and I took on year-long commitment to incredible uncertainty. Eleven year olds tend to lose interest in things after a certain period of time. In our household this period of time typically translates into three weeks, max. So,…
A provocative post by Andrea Hernandez has had my mind in a swirl for the last few days. Honestly, I think it is probably one of the more important posts I’ve read this year, and the issues that she begins to raise in this piece have been at the forefront of my mind since I began this little independent venture of mine. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I worry too much. It’s my…
Last night, I joined the rest of our nation in watching an African American accept a presedential nomination. This was remarkable in several thousand different ways, and I can leave it to those who are more eloquent and informed than I am to count them all today. Here’s something cool that happened in the middle of it: Laura came downstairs, unable to sleep. This was not cool in so much as I prefer my children to…
Over the last several years, I’ve developed a keen interest in the sort of role reversal that places kids at the helm of professional development experiences. Fifteen years ago, I don’t know that I would have been comfortable accepting my students as my teachers. Of course, this was prior to parenting two kids of my own. Now, I find it profoundly humorous that I ever thought I had a choice. Today, I watched my own 8 year old…