Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education
Exploring Curiosity, Imagination, and Wonder
I recently attended a teacher's workshop presented by Penny Kittle at Rutgers University sponsored by Rutgers Center for Literacy Development. I've seen Penny many times. Usually, she talks to teachers about creating reading and writing workshop spaces in high school classes. Penny was a high school English teacher in New Hampshire and her mentor was … Continue reading Write What You Notice
My colleagues worry about not having time enough to teach. They have so much content they need and want to cover. As a curriculum coordinator, I create tons of documents - benchmarks, scope & sequences, lists of standards by grade level to make sure we don't miss teaching one single skill or strategy. This is … Continue reading Being Present to Joy
This post centers around seeing students' possibilities instead of their deficits. When teachers and parents can do that, a student's motivation increases and they are able to become more successful, seeing themselves in a strong and positive light.
I don't know whether it's because my mom was a teacher or because I became a teacher and have been doing this for the last forty years... but I LOVE apples. I keep an apple collection: marble, ceramic, crystal, brass - all kinds of apples to remind me that school has just started and like … Continue reading A Time for Apples
For the first couple of weeks of school this year, I stared my work day in the Junior Pre-K with a vivacious group of three-year-olds. Those morning were filled with joy. This is my 40th year of teaching. My first six years in this profession was happily spent in a cooperative nursery school whose mission … Continue reading A Great Way to Start the Day
I am an educator, writer, and artist-photographer. All those disciplines hold at their core visualization. For the educator and student, it is the ability to visualize the possibilities and set a course to invent and re-invent oneself. For the writer, it is to find a way to communicate ones’ visions to others. And for the … Continue reading A New Way of Seeing
Fall is here, and for me September and October mean it’s time for ELA assessments. The teachers, specialists, and I gear up to assess the reading, phonics, spelling, and writing skills of students to help support their learning throughout the year. It is an intensive rush to provide the best instruction possible. This year, as … Continue reading Mindful Assessment: Breathe, Lean in, & Listen
Every year, over the past decade, I have attended a lecture series sponsored by Rutgers Center for Literacy, whose director, Dr. Lesley Morrow was one of my professors at the Graduate School of Education and now has become a valued friend. In June, I attended a presentation by Doug Fisher who spoke extensively about the … Continue reading Linger A Little Longer: The Power of Rereading
Follow me through a typical day and you will see me reading: reading microwave cooking directions on the side of a frozen food container, reading articles on travel or exercise or cures for wrinkles, scrolling through educational websites, and at the end of the day picking up a novel from a three-foot stack of books … Continue reading Reaching Reluctant Readers
Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they’re four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight. – Mem Fox, Reading Magic, 2001 Poetry is near and dear to my heart. My love of poetry came from my father, who would read … Continue reading Poetry in Play
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 