Freedom Writers. MacFarland, USA. It is a tradition at this school to play a movie the last few periods of the school day leading into a break. In this video, I have a few thoughts on this practice and the movie selections, which may or …
21, Thursday. Verbalizing Teacher-Think
Twenty-seven voices echo phrases of twenty-seven weeks as a class. That line has alliteration. I think the tooth here represents something more, symbolic of the character coming loose. All three characters have a member of their family who sacrificed safety for the good of the …
20, Wednesday. Inspired by Surroundings (and Haiku)
Three days. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Three days to inspire. What can I do in the three days before we break for spring that will make students want to come to class, be excited to write? My friend, cousin, composer, author, musician, teacher, Regina Baiocchi, hosts …
30 Days of Verse: Sign-Up to Write a Poem a Day with Ethical ELA this April #verselove2019
Writers, teachers, teacher educators, people-who-say-they’re-not-poets-but-just-might-be (essentially, everyone)! I know it feels too soon for April and National Poetry Month, but I am looking forward to springtime in great anticipation of living in the universe with and through verse. During the month of April, I will …
19, Digital Portfolios=Sanity
I was born in the 70’s. I had my first email address in the 90’s while at the University of Illinois, Urbana. There was a computer lab in the basement of the dorm, and I spent hours there learning how to type, saving and re-saving …
18, Monday. Saying Farewell
Tonight was the last night of the last class that I will teach at this university. I am taking time today to reflect on my eight years of teaching evening teacher ed courses — adolescent psychology, secondary English methods, middle school methods, literacy across the …
Test Prep or Teaching?
A six-foot-ish seventh grade student sits with knees pressing the desk nearly off the floor, hunched over his device scrolling up and down to solve the mathematics equations of the new-not-new state test. The once blanket of snow beyond the window over his shoulder is …
16, Saturday. Illinois Reads Book Festival
I packed my yellow NPR bag with 30 granola bars, a package of tissues, band aids, and my roster. Oh, and my husband (in the car, not the NPR bag). Today, he was coming to school with me to chaperone a field trip to the …
15, March. Student “as” teacher; teacher as listener
When we can set up learning experiences for students to be the facilitators of learning, the teacher can be positioned as a listener-observer. In this slice, I share two photographs from our classroom today as we read the lyrics from Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” …
14, Thursday. Nerves Shakin’ Like the Branches
I try to tell a story with this one. It was very windy today in Chicagoland. On my way from one school to the next, I could barely keep my car on the road, but it wasn’t the car as much as it was my …