Be a writer. It matters.
Today I met with a teacher who said these words to me: I don’t like writing. I really don’t like writing. Give me math all day long every day and I’m happy, but… Continue reading
Monthly Archive: August, 2011
Letting Them Teach Me
I’m sorry, I just realized I missed a blog post last Wednesday. Yes, I know it’s been nearly a week, but the truth is I just realized it. Oops. So on to the… Continue reading
Giveaway Winners for Leslie Patricelli Books
Thanks to everybody who entered Be Quiet, Mike and Leslie Patricellie Board Book Three-Pack Giveaways. Candlewick Press will be sending the following books to the following people who left comments on the Boss… Continue reading
GUEST BLOG POST: Weaving the “Slice of Life” Routine into Writing Workshop
Tara Smith teaches writing workshop, Language Arts and Social Studies to sixth graders at a middle school in suburban New Jersey. Before she was a teacher, she was an editor first at the… Continue reading
Interactive Charts
Taking Kristi Mraz‘s chart-making course at the July Writing Institute was so helpful to me. Kristi really got me thinking about having a take away item (made with a post-it note) that you… Continue reading
Chartchums
Kristi Mraz, one of my instructors from this past summer’s Writing Institute at Teachers College, and Marjorie Martinelli just started a blog called Chartchums: Creative Classroom Charts. I’ve reviewed the first few posts… Continue reading
What do you think?
I often write to figure out things. This is typically scrawled in a notebook that no one but me sees. I follow winding trails of thoughts, capture snippets, and try to come to… Continue reading
Getting the Room Ready
I miss having a classroom of my own at this time of the year. There’s something about putting up fadeless paper and borders, getting supplies ready, preparing the meeting area, and labeling books… Continue reading
GUEST BLOG POST: Starting The Year As Writers
Linda Baie just moved from the classroom after 20 years of teaching gifted students in an independent progressive school in Denver, Colorado. She is starting her second year as the school’s literacy coach,… Continue reading
An Interview with Leslie Patricelli + Giveaways
About a month or two after my daughter was born, I posted several status updates on my Facebook page complaining about the quality of the board books we had. They were too short,… Continue reading
Loving the Tough Ones
Today I was reminded of the importance of education. At the start of a new school year there is always a lot of talk about the dynamics of a classroom. How many kids… Continue reading
Be You
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~ Judy Garland Today is my first day of the new school year. I like this first day. I… Continue reading
GUEST BLOG POST: Self-Advocacy Begins with Reflection
Angela Stockman is the founder of the WNY Young Writers’ Studio, a community where teachers and young people come together to discover what good writing is, how to create it, and how to… Continue reading
More Read Alouds
I fell in love with Oliver Jeffers’ work when I came across THE INCREDIBLE BOOK EATING BOY. So it is no surprise that I was drawn to the whimsical illustrations in UP AND DOWN.… Continue reading
Friendship Books
As I’m getting ready to say hello to a new school year, I’ve been thinking about books I would love to share with students early in the year. The rest of the week… Continue reading
Empowering Independence
One of the things I think most about this time of year is how can I empower students to be (more) independent in writing workshop. What do I mean be independent? This is… Continue reading