I have been teaching for two-thirds of my life, and I am now looking back over those years and thinking about how we learn and what makes some of us life-long learners. I am especially interested in how some people love to read and some do not. I can’t imagine my life without stories. Since … Continue reading Exploring the Wonder of David Wiesner
Category: Art
Working in the Wonder Studio: Sewing up Some New Friends
The girls learn about sewing, making mistakes, and perseverance. I learn about how these students approach a task:  how they plan, how they organize, and how they problem solve. I also learn how to help them when they are stuck and what motivates them. I have come to understand how important this half-hour is for them as students and for me as a teacher.
Seaworthy Summer
These few days by the sea are important part of my school life. I need these days, I long for these days, I use these days to ready myself for a summer filled with travel, reading, art, and self-reflection.
Working in the Wonder Studio: Finding Our Dreams & Voices
This month, the 4th graders have taken over the studio. Some of them are painting on small canvases, some are making spring wreaths, some are learning to sew pillows, and a few of them are exploring how to turn boxes and tubes into working machines.Â
January Watercolor
of spring, I love the crisp, clean colors of winter. The cold air seems to freeze every form in place: the red berries on the evergreens, the sleek black of the crows, and the silver icicles hanging from rooftops. I want to capture these images in watercolor, but I haven’t painted in a long time.Â
Working in the Wonder Studio: The Play’s the Thing!
In the Wonder Studio this month, the 5th graders have been busy creating models of tree houses, ornaments, carts, and a sundry of child-generated crafts. The thing that all the students like best about Wonder Studio is that no adult is telling them what to make or how to make it.
Working in the Wonder Studio: Self-Reliance
I know people sometimes look at the things the Wonder Studio makers have created and see just a mess of paint and glue and cardboard. But I see treasure, pure childlike imaginative treasure. And in that treasure, I see creativity, determination, and resourcefulness, which will stay with them a lifetime. And that makes all the difference!
Maine-ly Peaceful
July is our Maine escape. I can just be here in this incredibly beautiful place and take in all I see.
Recharging
My energy is swiftly dwindling, and I’m trying to hold on to the little bit of reserve that I’ve been hiding inside myself. I find I need that reserve to be able to wrap up the year, and to get ready for summer re-energizing. I saw this butterfly mural in the town where I work, and I asked my friend, Molly, to take a picture of me with wings. I thought this image would help to remind myself of the importance of self-care. Â
Sew Easy: Lessons in Perseverance
There are three rites of passage in the Wonder Studio: using the hot glue gun, working a hack saw, and learning to sew. The joyful expressions on students’ faces as they learn these skills are salve for my weary teacher’s soul.Â
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 