Tomorrow we’ll be kicking off the first session of the WNY Young Writers’ Summer Studio, and I can’t wait! Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with the teachers who will be joining our community, and the idea of engaging adults and kids around common goals as writers and learners is really exciting. I think that we are all very comfortable in our roles as teachers at the front of the room. This collaborative model will…
It’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed in this field that we’ve chosen. There is tremendous work to be done, and whether we’re standing in front of a classroom or leading a professional development initiative, the fact remains: it’s difficult to define all that must be accomplished, let alone find the resources to pull it off. But some people manage to do exactly that, and sometimes, the solutions are incredibly simple. When Niagara Academy took the…
I spent today exploring the practice of literature circles with a group of English Language Arts teachers from across our region. It’s always interesting when public and nonpublic school teachers come together to collaborate around any one best practice, but the disparity between these two factions of our education system with regard to resources is fairly outrageous. A good amount of time was spent discussing the beauty of the classroom library and the grief that some teachers feel…