A special thank you to Andy Schoenborn for his compassion and support during this month’s writing challenge. We so appreciate the time Andy took to develop these meaningful writing opportunities and to nurture our community. As we look toward November, please continue to invite colleagues …
Inspiration In her work, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, Natalie Goldberg reminds writers that “sometimes a simple idea, such as the idea of leaving, can inspire profound writing” (p. 27). Let’s try tackling the emotion that can bubble up from the idea …
Inspiration For children play and imagination transform the world into a place they long to be. It seems, as adults, we can lose sight of the importance of play. The month of October, however, invites adults to reconnect with imaginative play especially during Halloween. It …
Inspiration Life comes at us fast. Without a doubt there are hills, valleys, and plateaus. On occasion these moments make for a memorable (if not defining) experience – one that is remembered throughout a person’s life. For many, the senior year of high school is …
Inspiration As the leaves fall from the trees in vibrant yellows, radiant reds, and brilliant oranges, October is a month worth celebrating with words. Let’s peruse our camera rolls or snap a picture of something beautiful this month. Using the photo of your choice, let’s …
You are likely getting close to midterm. A time when you have to assign a grade to the human beings you have been teaching that conflates all they have been doing to a letter. At Oklahoma State University, we are also at midterm. Students want …
In 2015, I began imagining a no-grades classroom. I wasn’t sure what this meant at the time. All I knew is that the letters and numbers that I put alongside students’ names didn’t even come close to representing who they were as learners and what …
Thank you for your interest in our sessions at the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English, @oklacte, #okcte. There were many great sessions this year with the keynote by Dr. Antero Garcia. Below are materials from the sessions I presented and co-presented. Please be mindful …
Today’s blog post comes from Elizabeth Dutro. Elizabeth is professor and chair of literacy studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she teaches courses in writing, approaches to inquiry, education in film, and literacy theory and practice. In her research, she collaborates closely with …
Especially in high school years, we should help young people to discover the power of literature to enable us to experiment imaginatively with life, to get the feel and emotional cost of different adult roles, to organize and reflect on a confused and unruly reality, …