Just when you get your FIRST DAY JITTERS settled down after the first day of school, it’s time to work on your PICTURE DAY JITTERS! Below is a fun activity to do with your students or with your own kids. It would also be fun if all of the teachers in the school did one…and …
As a teacher I loved the last day of school. Obviously, I was looking forward to a summer of no more (school) reading, no more (school) books, no more student’s dirty looks. But it also provided the perfect time to look back and reflect on the year, to really think about and examine my successes, …
Last Day Blues: Students Reflecting on the Past Year Read More »
One of the last years of teaching, I was doing hall duty in the 7th grade wing of my school late in the day. A parent lurched out of the rowdy, rambunctious crowd of students and stood by me for a moment looking totally overwhelmed. After taking a deep breath, she told me that she …
I first wrote this essay for an adult writing class I was teaching, outlining what I believed to be the most important attributes of a writer. However, as I recently reread it, I realized that these attributes – patience, perseverance, reflection, and self-forgiveness – also applied to being a teacher. Actually, the truth is, I …
Four Essential Attributes of a Writer…And a Teacher Read More »
This is a classroom or a home activity for any age student. The point of yearly school picture is to capture each student as they look at a particular moment in time. It’s fun for them to look back at old school pictures and remember what they looked like, how they dressed and even how …
In my book, Last Day Blues, the students in Mrs. Hartwell’s class worry that she will be sad when the school year ends and will spend the summer wishing she were back in school. As the students try to think of ways to ease Mrs. Hartwell’s sadness, they also look back at the high and …
A couple of years ago I was volunteering in an elementary school and was asked to monitor a small group of 3rd graders who needed extended time to take the standardized state test. As I wandered around the room, I noticed one boy getting especially antsy and yet, to my surprise, he kept plodding ahead. …
“Through the years I’ve learned that the most successful writers are those who have learned to think about their process and reflect on their work.” Louise DeSalvo When I teach writing, I want my students to see the 5-step writing process as a necessary tool to guide, inform and improve their writing. I want them …
A Helpful Boost for Teaching the Writing Process Read More »
Teaching the Reading Process (with videos) As a writer of nonfiction, I use the Reading Process to guide my thinking in order to comprehend and then synthesize the information I get from research reading. As a middle school reading teacher, I organized my instruction around that same process. The Reading Process refers to the three …
My picture book biography, Monet Paints a Day, (Charlesbridge, 2011),was written using three different kinds of nonfiction. This was done because I had so much interesting information to present but wasn’t sure what information to leave in and what to leave out. In short, I faced the decision every writer faces as they move into …