Teach Children Well

What makes a classroom community strong?  How can students and teachers work together at the start of the year to build a classroom communit...

As I consider the multiple standards and initiatives at play, I find myself lamenting, "There just isn't enough time!"  Yet,...

All writers want to "breathe life into words" and Ralph Fletcher provides insight into that process in his book, Live Writing, B...

Ralph Fletcher outlined the Writer's Notebook effort recently at The Wayland Literacy Institute.  Now, I'm reading his book, Ralph...

Ralph Fletcher gave amazing presentations at last week's Wayland Literacy Institute.  On the first day, he reminded us of many valuable ...

The Wayland Literacy Institute, Wayland, MA I appreciate the efforts of so many leaders and educators who made this year's Wayland L...

Student's Paper-Cut Design Created to Inspire Story Writing  At the  The Wayland Literacy Institute   I presented my thoughts, exper...

As I look ahead to next year, I want to build in more time for students to practice writing. This year students were introduced to many ge...

Blog Topic List If you're a blogger who wants to assess your year, you can simply use the "topic links" gadget to essentia...

This weekend I am having the chance to both celebrate and witness accomplishment--accomplishment far beyond the walls of my fourth grade cla...

In so many way edcamp Boston was extraordinary. First, how often do a number of individuals volunteer countless hours in an effort to br...

I read an excerpt about pundits ridiculing a leader recently about his "voice."  They sought to minimize the leader's words an...

Teachers want to know what's working. We want to hear the success stories--the ways our colleagues are positively impacting individual s...

It's probably because my son has started working in an ice cream shop that I am beginning to think of learning paths as flavors. Simil...

Yesterday as part of Wayland Reads, I was fortunate to hear Robert Pinsky, former United States' Poet Laureate, share his poems and thou...

Writing is enhanced when you have an audience.  Hence the question, for whom do I blog? As I write, I think of my varied potential audienc...

As I drove into work today, I thought about how I would strengthen commitment and understanding related to writing a high quality essay or s...

It's that time of year when the workload is overwhelming, and that is ever so frustrating. Teachers know how much better their teachin...

When I started teaching 27 years ago, writing workshop was just taking shape in my school system.  I really loved that model then and contin...

Twenty-five fourth graders sit before me taking the mock MCAS today. We give a mock MCAS so we have a day where we can answer questions, en...