I spent Monday and Tuesday being inspired by Penny Kittle. My thoughts swirled as she shared her ideas, passion, and love for teaching students to write well in that no-nonsense genuine style of her's. I was reminded that the fight for good teaching to trump standardized tests is a worthy one, even though the battle… Continue reading Ruth’s Slice: Rekindled.
Category: professional development
More from NCTE: Jim Burke + Assignments
For the last session of the conference, I attended a session with Jim Burke, Jeff Wilhelm, and Alan Sitomer geared toward secondary teachers. It was excellent, so excellent that I took 13 pages of notes! Over the next few days, I plan to process some of what I heard. Burke shared his guiding principles for designing… Continue reading More from NCTE: Jim Burke + Assignments
Share this:
Share this:
CFG
I recently learned what a Critical Friends Group, or CFG, is from one of my colleagues. I'm curious to learn more. If you participate in a CFG, please leave a comment so we can all learn more about them (and hopefully participate in one going-forward).
Share this:
Share this:
The Gift of Sharing.
May I just say what a gift it is when we share our writing with others? Today in the BWWT, we opened up an "Author's Chair." The readings were amazing. Some gave me goosebumps, others, made me tear-up, some made me laugh -- all soothed my soul. When we are brave and bold in the… Continue reading The Gift of Sharing.
Share this:
Share this:
Recommended Professional Resources.
Here are my recommendations for those new to Writing Workshop and wanting to jump in with both feet. Each of the books are recommended due to their easy organization and the impact they had on me as I guided teachers in Writing Workshop. A curriculum set (choose the ONE which meets your needs). This is… Continue reading Recommended Professional Resources.
Share this:
Share this:
All-Write Summer Institute: Day Two.
What a whirlwind! And coming home to three young children didn't slow life down any! True to form, I'm going to write another list of good stuff from day two. Storyboards ROCK -- for all grade levels. Penny spent time discussing her use of storyboards. Basically it is pictures + few words. At the younger… Continue reading All-Write Summer Institute: Day Two.
Share this:
Share this:
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.
Share this:
Share this:
reflective practice.
A few months ago I attended a two day workshop with Debbie Miller. It was phenomenal. The thing I was struck by the most, however, was her commitment to reflective practice. Everyday after school, she paused to consider how the day went. She considered her lessons and conferences and reactions to students. She considered the… Continue reading reflective practice.
Share this:
Share this:
reflecting on charts.
Yesterday in Sue Price's sixth grade language arts class, I led the sharing. Her students are in the middle of reading their research (on a topic of their choice) in order to write a two page magazine spread. One of the components is a feature article. At the end, all of the magazine spreads will… Continue reading reflecting on charts.
Share this:
Share this:
thinking about pictures.
When Debbie Miller was here, she had recommended Tony Johnston's book, The Harmonica. I was instantly intrigued by the book and ordered it from Amazon. (You can too, by using the links in my SOLC post from today!) It arrived late last night & I read it tonight. It unexpectedly became my SOLC Story for… Continue reading thinking about pictures.
Share this:
Share this:
frank serafini.
Over the next few days I'm going to have a few posts inspired by Frank Serafini, author of numerous works, including Around the Reading Workshop in 80 Days. All-Write Consortium (which my school district belongs) hosted him last Thursday & Friday. By good luck, my home district was the host school. By even better luck, I had… Continue reading frank serafini.
Share this:
Share this:
New Professional Notebook
I felt like a kid earlier this morning as I broke out the stickers and began decorating my new notebook. Even though it's for professional use, I think it's truly okay to jazz it up a little bit. Decorating my notebook gets me excited about using it... I guess it's the same way with kids… Continue reading New Professional Notebook
