My mother-in-law sent me the link to a story from "The Today Show." It's about an unlikely principal who turned a failing junior high school in the Bronx around... completely. Click here to watch the video.
Author: Stacey Shubitz
Stacey Shubitz is a K-6 literacy consultant and former elementary teacher. She is the author of CRAFT MOVES and other professional books on writing workshop. Her new book, MAKE THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WORK FOR YOUR CHILD WITH DISABILITIES (Guilford Press, 2026), empowers parents to navigate the special education system.
Who Is Responsible?” Literacy and Education for All
This weekend has been about me floating on Cloud Nine! First we heard about NCTE. Then, this evening I found out my proposal to present at the Fall 2008 NEATE (New England Association of Teachers of English) Conference was accepted. The Fall 2008 Conference theme is: "Who Is Responsible?" Literacy and Education for All." Similar… Continue reading Who Is Responsible?” Literacy and Education for All
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Slight Tweaking
I did some slight tweaking to our memoir unit of study. This is this year's "final" version. Session 1: Writers read and listen to student memoirs and then write in order to inspire their own writing. Session 2: Writers find their life topic by thinking about people who are important to you. One way writers… Continue reading Slight Tweaking
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Mini-Course: Handmade Card Making
Our school is having mini-courses for the kids on three Mondays in May. I signed-up to do handmade card making mini-course with second, third, and fourth graders who are interested. I started creating samples over the weekend: I'm debating how to structure the classes. Part of me wants the kids to just write their own… Continue reading Mini-Course: Handmade Card Making
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ED in ’08 Blogger Summit
Alex from the Ed in '08 Blogger Summit left a comment this morning on our About Us Page. The Summit is being held in Washington, DC later this month. If you're interested in attending, then click here to learn more. While you're at it, check out the ED in '08 Website too. We wish we… Continue reading ED in ’08 Blogger Summit
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Inspired to Create a Book List at OceanCliff
The view of the water from the back of OceanCliff Originally uploaded by teachergal We got all of our writing and reading teaching points solidified for the rest of the school year when we were at OceanCliff yesterday. However, we went a step farther and did something we didn't expect to do. We started a… Continue reading Inspired to Create a Book List at OceanCliff
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WE’RE PRESENTING AT NCTE IN NOVEMBER!!!!
I just got off of the phone with Ruth, with whom I shared the great news. Our conversation session proposal, "INSPIRING CHILDREN TO WRITE: TEACHING WRITING WORKSHOP WITH OUR NOTEBOOKS WIDE OPEN" was accepted for the 2008 NCTE Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas. My speech title is "Teaching With My Notebook Wide-Open," while Ruth's… Continue reading WE’RE PRESENTING AT NCTE IN NOVEMBER!!!!
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Immersing them in the memoir genre
Deb asked me which texts I'll be using on day one of the memoir unit. Well, the answer is that I will be reading When the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant or rereading What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan. That being said, I'm actually having the kids spend their independent writing time reading three… Continue reading Immersing them in the memoir genre
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P.D.
OceanCliff Originally uploaded by teachergal I was completely inspired by my surroundings today when I attended a day-long professional development session with my colleagues at OceanCliff in Newport. The drive out there was breathtaking, as was the view from the back of OceanCliff, which is pictured below. Today was one of those great, productive days… Continue reading P.D.
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Gearing-Up for Memoir
We're starting a new unit of study on Monday: MEMOIR! I've taught it twice using Calkins and Chiarella's Book. However, this year is going to be different. Kate and I decided to mesh C&C's book with Katherine Bomer's Book entitled Writing A Life. Our teaching points are from both books. However, we think we might… Continue reading Gearing-Up for Memoir
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Poetry Friday: There Is A Time…
I was perusing Caroline Kennedy's poetry anthology for kids, WHICH I LOVE, with one of my students yesterday since she was looking for inspiration during our Writing Workshop. We came across Ecclesiastes 3, which I had noticed once or twice in there. I reread it today and was, of course, moved. Hence, that's what I'm… Continue reading Poetry Friday: There Is A Time…
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Poetry Pass in Interactive Read Aloud
We did a Poetry Pass for the first time during Interactive Read Aloud yesterday. I wanted to do it so that I could get the kids writing about a 'heavy' poem I presented them with, which is one of the texts in our voice/silence text set. They did a simply amazing job with responding, in… Continue reading Poetry Pass in Interactive Read Aloud
