Watching Faith E. Briggs navigate the ruts, inclines, and down hills as she runs through three national monuments – public lands protected under the Antiquities Act – makes for a vivid and immersive viewing experience. Her exploration of what it means to be a conservationist amid the threat of rolled back protections for public lands […]
Conferring with students about their reading and writing is one of those things I never feel like I will completely master. There will always be new ideas for simplifying, streamlining the process + making those conversations even more productive for students. Especially this year. Fortunately, Hattie + Mike love this stuff + are sharing ideas […]
After a few more deep breaths and some reflection, I’m ready to think about what I hope sticks from this time period we are all so eager to put behind us.
This is a follow-up conversation with Caitlin Wingers, a grade 3 teacher in Jubail, Saudi Arabia (The initial conversation, that occurred in October, can be found here). This time around, Caitlin reflects on the unit she implemented at the start of the year — a Writing Process Unit that was Non-Genre Specific. A unit that […]
One of my favorite reads in the last year has been Bob Iger’s The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. In his book, Iger dives into the magic behind running a company like Disney, his wisdom on leadership and collaboration, and the type of grit […]
Ever since Marilyn Pryle’s Reading With Presence I have kept her book on the edge of my desk and picked it up every single week. The simplicity and elegance of Marilyn’s reading responses unlocked something for me — something that streamlined and systematized reading instruction, something that made my goals clear to me and clear […]
The powerful words I think can open a world of inquiry in our classroom especially in the science and math classroom. How can you use predictions and hypothesis in your classroom to generate critical writers? Abigail shows you some moves you can make!
Teaching conventions seems to be the most straightforward part of teaching English. Learning conventions, though, doesn’t come easy, especially to ELLs.
…these students had a very, very limited idea of what writing was.
Teaching grammar is my instructional nemesis. I’m sure I am not alone in feeling this way. For nearly twenty years now, I have worked at teaching grammar in the context of writing, without skill-and-drill worksheets, and every year I tweak my approach, often some variation of Harry Noden’s creative Image Grammar approach. But it’s still […]
