Now our year is coming to a close and we are having to find new ways to end the year and say goodbye. With another change comes another opportunity for trauma… it is important to remember that the health and welfare of every person comes first, even and especially as we bring the school year to a close.
In the last two months, our world has required us to live in the space of continuous new experiences. All of us, but especially the world of education, have taken a hard and immediate shift. It would be blind denial to say it has been easy, but this past week has taken me by surprise.
Twenty-five days of student writing are now behind us, and we are closing in on the end of the 2020 Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge. Students have worked hard to write stories… Continue reading
Students have inspired us with the craft of story, building themselves into stronger writers each day. What a beautiful way to have students feel so close when they are so far from us.
Meeting the needs of our students may sometimes require much more than paper or pencils, but it is not always as hard as we might think.
At the start of April, students around the world began the journey of storytelling, connecting them to each other, teachers, and families in important and meaningful ways. Students are writing during this historic month of April, as we all live history through a global pandemic.
All I wanted was for their pencils to keep moving, for the writing to flow without stopping. For a short while, that proved to be difficult, but not impossible.
There are times students need tools to grow, but then there are times when tools can create possibilities beyond expectations and inspire writers in new and creative ways. When I think about how… Continue reading
What we place on the walls of a classroom tells students, or any other person who enters the room, what is valued most, and what we should value most in our classrooms is student work.
When we create space for our students to have authentic and meaningful experiences, we shift the learning and growing of the writer. Something extraordinary happens deep inside a writer that excites and illuminates purpose when publishing for an authentic audience.
Kindness is an essential part of teaching life. According to Fred Rogers, “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”
One of the greatest benefits I have had in my classroom, that encompasses all things literacy, has been the addition of purposeful talk. When it comes to inviting students to think and learn… Continue reading
When writing workshop rituals become woven into the daily grooves of the writing community, cohesive safe zones develop. The consistency of rituals in a classroom helps students transition within the workshop environment smoothly… Well-established rituals create the space for students to concern themselves less with movement and more with the work of a writing.
Welcome! Join today’s Slice of Life Story Challenge by… writing a post, sharing the permalink in the comments section, and visiting at least three other slicers to leave a comment for them.
All students have stories to share. All of them. Our challenge may be to undo what has been done to have students believe they have nothing of value to share.
Welcome! Join today’s Slice of Life story challenge by… writing a post, sharing the permalink in the comments section, and visiting at least three other slicers to leave a comment for them.
Welcome! Join today’s Slice of Life Story Challenge by… writing a post, sharing the permalink in the comments section, and visiting at least three other slicers to leave a comment for them.
If we are not intentional, we can easily rush into many teaching points, instead of only one. We can overwhelm ourselves and our students. If we are not careful, we can miss the most important reason we sit with a student―the opportunity to listen and learn.
Welcome! Join today’s Slice of Life Story Challenge by writing a post, sharing the permalink in the comments section, and visiting at least three other slicers to leave a comment for them.
Welcome! Join today’s Slice of Life Story Challenge by writing a post, sharing the permalink in the comments section, and visiting at least three other slicers to leave a comment for them.
