Bullying is an issue at most schools, and unfortunately it is no different at mine. This year though, we’re trying something new. On Thursday, we launched our “Stand Up” to bullying campaign. Our project was inspired by a project that our VP saw about a principal in the states. We kind of thought…if they can [...]

I had an excellent Professional Development Day yesterday, on assessing writing. I’ve got so much work to do this weekend now! Don’t you just love it when that happens? You attend a PD session and by the time you get to the end, you have more questions than answers? Well, that’s the kind of afternoon that [...]

So we’re about half way through our book club and things are going okay. My class is a group of very verbal kids (and then some not so verbal kids). They seem to be enjoying their novels and I know that they’re engaged in the read aloud text: Firegirl. I have been struggling with one [...]

I’m super excited about the book that I just got Using Picture Books to Teach 8 Essential Literary Elements: An Annotated Bibliography of More Than 100 Books With Model Lessons to Deepen Students’ Comprehension. What a mouthful! The book covers: ~Setting ~Point of view ~Plot ~Characterization ~Theme ~Foreshadowning ~Flashback ~Figurative language ...

“Guided Math: A Framework for Mathematics Instruction” was one of my summer reads. I posted about my goals for Incorporating Guided Math into My Classroom in a post not too long ago. Well now I’m a month into school - time for an update! I decided to start out by trying to give students some choice in [...]

Guided Math, by Laney Sammons, was the second professional resource that I added to my reading list for this summer. It was quite a quick read and I’m ready to share with you what I have taken from the book.  I’m not going to completely review the book and give away all of the good [...]

Okay, I’m doing a 2 Part Blog Post today…   Part 1: Finished my First Summer Read Don’t you just love it when you devote your time to something and it pays off? Me too!   I just finished my first summer read  “Differentiated Instruction in the Whole-Group Setting”  about  a week ago. It was a [...]

Today was officially my first day of summer vacation…wait for it…wait for it….YAY!!! Bring on summer! Okay – just had to get that out of my system;)   You know by now how I feel about doing some kind of professional, summer reading. So, I just had to share! I just came across an awesome [...]

In July, Cathy et al at Refine andReflect are hosting a #cyberPD summer reading discussion based on Peter Johnston's Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives. In preparation (and while waiting for Amazon to deliver Opening Minds), I decided to re-read Johnston's Choice Words. It is a good reminder about the power of teachers' words in ...

Okay. I admit it. I have committment issues. Well, not exactly. My husband and I have been together since we were 17. It’s not that type of committment that I’m talking about;) I can’t commit to just ONE book at a time. There. I said it. I read a bit, put it down, pick up [...]