Making Connections: Reimagining the Beginning of the School Year
It seems like every August the question on every teacher’s mind is: what am I going to do with students during the first few days…
Writing Instruction that Works
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Yet year after year, teachers continue to…
What We Write For
Writing for Discovery Last night, I had the joy of hosting the Northern Virginia stop of the National Writing Project’s, “Write Across America” (WAA) campaign, a…
Summer Olympics: Keeping Students Engaged in the Waning Days of School
I hadn’t stopped speaking before the glares began. Angry face after angry face greeted my words. I was thrilled. Why was I so happy that…
Encapsulate Your Learning: Time Capsules in the ELA Classroom
In December 2021, historians in Richmond, Virginia, uncovered not one, but two, time capsules that had been embedded in the base of a Confederate statue.…
Writing into Summer: End-of-Year Menu Boards
This time of year, it seems one question is at the forefront of everyone’s mind: What are we going to do with our students after…
High Interest Books for Teens
We all know that students need to read more. But if we’re being honest, we know that many teens are not reading the works we…
Fun & Functional: Developing Learning Activities That are Both Meaningful and Engaging
Like many educators, I strive to develop learning activities that are both meaningful and engaging. No matter how important an instructional task may be, the…
Strong Writers Make Strong Readers
One of the central premises of the upcoming Writing Wednesday series is that by engaging students in meaningful creative writing tasks, we can improve not…
Student Choice for Summative Tasks
If you’ve been working in education for any period of time, you likely already know that “student choice” has become a favorite approach among educators…