What to keep, what to stop, and what to change? These are questions that I know I will continue to wonder about and discuss with colleagues. For me, the increased technological savviness, multimedia options, and clarity should continue to impact students' experiences and outcomes in positive ways as I move forward in teaching and learning.
Category: COVID-19
Three Quick Ways to Know How Students Are Doing
How can I make progress pathways for young writers working from anywhere clearer for them? Inviting students into the evaluation process is helpful, and my hope is that one of these ideas will inspire you.
Active Engagement with Pear Deck
Active engagement looks different now than it did pre-COVID-19. One digital tool for active engagement is Pear Deck. Read on to find out how I'm using Pear Deck with my third grade writers!
Thanksgiving 2020
There is a heaviness to Thanksgiving this year. Yet, after taking stock of the things I am grateful for, I am thankful for what I have.
Five Ways to Maximize Time If Time for Writing Workshop Gets Cut
Time is a precious commodity in elementary schools. Making the time for a daily writing workshop often means that something else has to get short shrift. However, sometimes, the time for writing workshop gets cut by five or ten minutes. Here are several suggestions for what you can do if writing time gets cut.
A Writer’s Purpose.
I remember the day I ran over to my partner teacher’s classroom. If my memory serves me well, I may have darted over to her classroom, flailing a single sheet in front of her and excitedly showed her the work. It was the work of one of my students. He, a student who could be… Continue reading A Writer’s Purpose.
Three Ways to Find Joy & Keep Writing
We are now entering week seven in our school district. At the start of the year, there was much to think about and much to worry about. There were many questions to be answered and all of them seemed continuously uncertain. “We don’t know that yet” or “I’m not sure” were phrases that often seemed… Continue reading Three Ways to Find Joy & Keep Writing
Adapting to Our New Reality
The 2020-21 school year is one of those times that we must adapt, adjust, and rearrange our lives to fit with our new reality.
Easy Ways to Create a Healthy Ergonomic Set Up for Your At-Home Learner
For years, therapists have known that body positioning to increase attention and upper extremity stability is important. But those strategies have focused on children that have been seen by therapists in classrooms and clinics to address decreased attention span, core stability, and handwriting concerns. Today, Karen Reale, an occupational therapist, provides tips and tricks that can be applicable to any child who is learning in a classroom, hybrid setting, or at home this fall. This quick, informative post will help teachers educate caregivers on the importance of healthy positioning at home or wherever their child does their schoolwork.
My Three Remote Teacher Survival Tips
As we all venture into another week of instruction, no matter what that may look like, I have three tips for surviving and thriving in these times.
Resources Teachers Can Share With Families: Increase Writing Volume and Stamina at Home
Teaching my own kids is humbling to say the least. At home, I am not the special visiting teacher. I'm not even the teacher. At home, I'm mom, and it is the understatement of the century to say that it is a challenge to teach my own kids.
Providing Tools for Writing and Sharing Writing Through the Pandemic
Calling all primary writing teachers. Today Janet Ahn shares how she worked with her Kindergarteners to continue thrive in writing workshop through the pandemic. These young scholars continued to draft pieces, engage in conferring, collaborate to mark up mentor texts, and publish their writing through online platforms. Their dedication to continuing the writing workshop virtually was a reflection of how they truly saw themselves as writers.