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Have you read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie?
You haven’t?
Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore or surf your way over to your favorite e-retailer.
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Book Buzz: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Differentiation: A model lesson
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010I have been thinking a lot about snowflakes lately, which is strange because I live in California and it is spring. However, my kindergartner is completely fascinated by snowflakes, mostly because each one is unique, like no other in the universe. And not to sound trite, but so are students. Unique. Like no other in the universe. Recently I spoke at a career panel and was asked by a sixth grade girl, “Why do you like teaching?” I stopped and thought about why I liked being a teacher. What did teaching mean to me? As I looked out over the sea of young women sitting there, I knew my answer. I like the puzzle of teaching to the unique. I thrive on figuring out how to make EVERY child learn what is just right for them. I gauge my success as a teacher upon how effectively I succeed at this. I believe that it is this constant need to advocate for every learner that makes this profession so very interesting. Let’s face it–it requires flexibility, creativity and plain old mental Olympics to achieve this in the classroom.
Quick Teaching Tip: Jolly Caucus Race Proofreading
Thursday, April 8th, 2010Greetings, faithful readers!
I am coming off of an inspiring evening speaking at a career fair with the Girl Scouts of San Diego-Imperial Council, hosted by the Junior League of San Diego. During this event I addressed 50+ 6th through 9th graders about the career of “Teacher.” I was a bit nervous…after all, most of these girls spend a lot of time at schools with teachers, so what would I have to add? To make matters worse, there were some really cool jobs on the panel…gemologist, anyone? I decided to talk with these girls about why I love to teach rather than what teaching was all about. I explained about the creativity, the challenge of reaching all students, the humor required, and the joy of watching learning as it takes place. Ultimately, remembering why I love education was important. If you haven’t taken a moment recently to remember why you entered this field and why it is so wonderful…pause for a moment and remember. It is completely revitalizing!
Quick Teaching Tip: “A Lot” of Hoopla
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010Perhaps it is the spring in the air or the sweet sounds of birds chirping. Perhaps I am grateful that my home/office has not been shaken into the Pacific Ocean. Or perhaps it is because my kindergartner is home from school for Spring Break and I have escaped for a few minutes of peace and serenity into my office under the guise of work. I’ll never tell. However, regardless of the motivation, I am feeling generous today and so will begin a serious of little gifts to my loyal blog readers. But first, a little about our philosophy on instructional seminars.
Ready to Read III: So if not an iPad…
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
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After the launch of the infamous and much heralded iPad last week, I set to my humble blog in order to comment on some reasons I felt that the current functionality of the iPad was not compelling enough for widespread educational use at this moment. I discovered quickly that there are two highly outspoken groups…those that firmly believe that the iPad is a waste of time and those that believe that it is the answer to a lone educator’s prayers (if only it could do parent-teacher conferences). Thank you to all that chose to enter the discussion and weigh in on this exciting topic. I was delighted to find such passionate educators on both sides of the iPad divide…if only we could get this excited about differentiated instruction and communicating with parents, perhaps we wouldn’t need large, unwieldy government standardized testing programs (you know who you are, Nickleby!)