Posted inHigh School

Project Archaeology Leadership Academy

Summer is not only a time for reading and gardening. It’s a time for professional development. This week, I have been attending a program called Project Archaeology Leadership Academy (PALA). Project Archaeology is a national educational organization that is run in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Montana State University. Educators, museum […]

Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy

Close Reading and Deep Thinking = “Textploration”

My focus in this piece will be on inspiring truly close reading and deeper thinking as a facet of ELA instruction. When a reader can go beyond recall; go beyond simple inference and analysis, and go spelunking deep into reflection on and evaluation of story characters and elements (while using the text to support their […]

Posted inAdult Learning, Featured, New Teacher Bootcamp, Principals' Corner, The New Teacher Chronicles

Teachers are Not Martyrs

Three weeks ago I made the difficult decision to leave my school and accept a 4th grade co-teaching position at another public school just blocks away. When I came back to teaching after a year in grad school, one thing that had changed for me was a deeper commitment to build community within and outside my […]

Posted inUncategorized

Tests aren’t Best

I don’t know kids but I like tests to know more about kids I think tests are best  (The anonymous corporate reformer who ate Dr. Seuss)   Tests are preparing to descend upon us. The are being discussed in training, warnings, plannings… But once in a while you get to be with colleagues and plan […]