Mark Twain's writerly advice, to "write what you know,” certainly holds true for me.  Life often fuels my writing, whether I’m creating characters that share the habits and quirks of my own children or crafting blog posts born of moments shared with students and teachers, leaning into the familiar can make my writing feel more real.  However, I sometimes wonder what the word experience really mean...

As our team gathered at the end of 2019 we took time to reflect upon the work we do to support teachers. We realized that while literacy practices are our main focus we also want to offer every leader, teacher, and student we meet the gift of happiness. We believe wholeheartedly that joy is at the core of every successful learning experience. Inspired by the Greater Good Science Center at Berkley,...

We’ve wondered about it, discovered patterns around it, modeled it, taught it, and supported it. Yep… now, it is time to take another step backward, and help that “we go” become a “you go.” Let me be clear. This is not you go because I tell you to- but an empowered you go because you choose to go and know how to go! This is often the hardest step for both teachers and students in the gradual relea...

Conventions aren’t icing and confetti sprinkles we apply to a piece of writing as a final flourish. Conventions are baked into the cake! I learned this truth the hard way, of course, as a new teacher. My fall from innocence to experience story goes like this: It was early in my career and I moved into my new classroom to find that I had no wall place to put my beloved “linear writing process” char...

“You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink.” Ah, yes, this proverb is so true when it comes to teaching, hoping, praying that students will apply the taught conventions to their own writing. There have been many times I have done a quick “well check” in my head that goes something like this:

• Have I generated curiosity around language? CHECK

• Did I bring a healthy dose of i...

The economic bubble burst in 2009 and so did my sense of invincibility. By this time, I had been teaching in the primary grades for six years and having recently relocated back to my home state, I was first on the chopping block in this new district. Regina, my principal, called me into her office and sat me down. Her eyes told the story I begrudgingly saw coming. Words like “I’m so sorry...budget...

Reflection takes courage. Whether you are thinking back to a moment from the past or freeing up your mind to think about what’s ahead, reflection is undoubtedly a courageous act. When we engage in this process we are opening ourselves up to travel to a more vulnerable space.  Knowing that reflection can lead us to forming understandings, realizing potential hardships, reliving challenging experien...

What is Shared Reading?

As literacy instructors, we aim for the reading and writing instruction we provide to fit together in a way that makes sense and that allows for each to compliment the other. Deeper and lasting learning occurs when reading and writing are integrated in this way. We hope that while reading nonfiction texts with depth and curiosity that we can also be writing to capture our re...

Imagine you have been handed a 1,000 piece puzzle… in a plastic bag. There is no helpful picture on the outside of the box to provide vision for how these pieces fit together. You start fumbling, trying to remember the few puzzle strategies you know. It all results in feeling frustrated, defeated, and ready to give up. You don’t have enough to go on.

When we provide explicit grammar instruction (pu...

Often in the beginning of the year  we are tirelessly working on routines and structures that will help students develop independence, and while yes independence is certainly important, there might be just as much value in nurturing interdependence too. 

In the Zanders' book,The Art of Possibility they describe this in such a way that exudes deep rooted potential. The book suggests that we loo...