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
Mindful Assessment: Breathe, Lean in, & Listen
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
Linger A Little Longer: The Power of Rereading
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
Reaching Reluctant Readers
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
Poetry in Play
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
Fostering Curiosity & Imagination
Last week, I was reminded about the importance of curiosity and imagination by a second grade girl at the school where I'm the ELA Curriculum Coordinator. At the end of the day, Chelsea came over to me a slipped a piece of paper in my coat pocket. I immediately took the paper out. It was … Continue reading Fostering Curiosity & Imagination
For the Love of Words
Some words feel wonderful in your mouth: benevolent, pashmina, Constantinople. They roll right off one’s tongue and into one’s imagination. Words hold meaning and are the building blocks of all human thought. When I began teaching thirty-eight years ago, I marveled at my preschool students’ curiosity about words and how they could understand and use … Continue reading For the Love of Words
The Power of Listening
“If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” — Turkish saying This quote is important to me because now in our culture SPEAKING seems to be gold and listening is pretty much non-existence. Everyone is racing to be heard – to get their point across – to be in the limelight. Very few people slow down … Continue reading The Power of Listening
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 