Literacy Instruction

I’ve seen a lot of posts lately on social media discussing classroom libraries and how to manage them so that you don’t lose a ton of books every year.  Wow, did that resonate with me!  Classroom libraries are a huge part of my  philosophy of teaching literacy , and when I was in the classroom, I had hundreds of books on my shelves.  Each year, I tried a new system of managing those books. And each year I lost a lot of books. You name it, I probably tried it. I added pockets

Strengths of the Reading and Writing Workshop My very favorite way to teach reading and writing in grades K-8 is using a workshop approach.  Seriously, it makes my heart happy, and I count it as a major blessing in my life that the first school that employed me used it and sent me to countless trainings on it.  Imagine with me, a room full of students stretched out on comfortable furniture or the floor with pillows, reading their hearts out.  You may hear the occasional gasp

Professional Development for Teachers Should Spark Passion I am a professional development NERD. I can’t express how much I love it.  I am so very happy to sit and read a book on education, especially those centered around literacy instruction.  You wanna send me to a conference?  I am in my glory!  I will sit in the front, write down everything I can possibly scribble while the presenter talks, then gush about it when I get home.  I may or may not line up for an author’s aut

I remember the depressing ritual of hauling home a giant bag full of papers that I needed to grade day after day for weeks.  Students would write multiple page documents that would take F-O-R-E-V-E-R to get through.  So much so that sometimes I didn’t even have the willpower to open the bag. I’d set up treats for myself- grade five and you get THIS!- just to help me try to get through the massive stack. Work-life balance didn’t exist.  It was painful for all involved, and I a