Today was the first day of our Studio summer sessions, and it was wonderful in about a thousand different ways. The veteran fellows of our community are incredibly talented teachers and kids, and nearly all of them have returned this year. They’ve found company in a large cohort of new fellows as well, and it’s been inspiring to watch new friendships quickly form while we begin easing into our work and conversation. Our home at…
I’ve watched Erin McKean speak to redefining the dictionary with quite a few different teachers this year, particularly during conversations that focus on vocabulary instruction. Check it out: So now…….I’m kinda loving what’s she (and a team of friends) are up to here.
Over the last year, so many people have asked for a “snapshot” of what the WNY Young Writers’ Studio is really all about, and every time I’ve been asked to share this information, I haven’t done it justice. Over the last month though, I’ve had the chance to collaborate with many of our Studio fellows as well as members of my own learning community, and finally, we’re finding just the right words to describe who…
While I haven’t missed being tethered to the computer quite as much as I was during our school year, I have been missing the conversations that are unfolding within various networks here! My blog has also suffered some intentional neglect as I find myself filling up on the reading I’ve waited all winter to get to and planning for the WNY Young Writers’ Studio, which begins in two short weeks! On Sunday, I met with…
Two days ago, a box of books arrived from Amazon. Not just any books. Copies of some of my favorite books. I like beginning summer by rereading the things that I love the most. It’s almost like meditation for me–the act of revisiting passages I’ve read a thousand times while sitting in the sun or on the sand or out in the back yard while my daughters’ laughter provides background music. Last week, when I…
I meant to start this series of posts last week, but like many in my corner of the world, I’m finding myself caught up in the swirl of June. Each day seems to bring another softball game, school concert, field trip, assembly, or party of some sort for my kids. Couple of all of that my own end of the year program evaluation and planning for the year ahead, and the whole blogging thing kinda…
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…
Have you ever been asked to name your favorite book and found yourself struggling to pick just one? Someone asked me this question today, and I was really at a loss. I can tell you this though: my favorite book can probably be found somewhere within the piles of books my kids have written over the years. The picture above captures a tiny sampling of my youngest daughter’s growing library, and I know that decades…
What is good writing? What does it mean to “be” a writer?
Meredith Stewart recently began a conversation on the English Companion Ning about setting meaningful professional goals, and this thought of hers really struck me: “Based on the goals that I have seen from others, it seems the trend is to write very nebulous or very easily achievable goals. I would like at least one of my goals to be something at which it’d be possible to fail.” This is a compelling consideration, isn’t it? Goals…