About halfway between my house and my sister's stands a church. A marquee lights up the otherwise dark corner where it stands, and on that marquee are often words of wisdom that stick with me for days. The latest is no exception. I passed by the sign on my way home from visiting my nieces after the Scholastic Reading Summit this week. Maybe it was everything that was swirling through my head that I had learned, or maybe it was just meant to speak to me... but I can't stop pondering it. So much of what I heard and discussed at the Summit parallels and supports what I've been reading on Twit ..read more

I've held back for so long. I've tried to figure out the best way for my voice to be heard. And then the Immigration Ban came along. I can be silent no longer.  My family immigrated here from Poland, many of them refugees from a tumultuous time in Poland. Unrest was widespread as Russia controlled part of the area, and borders continued to change between Russia, Poland, Germany, Austria, and more. From the research we've done, it appears as though many of them came here in the early 1900s, from about 1903-1913 for the most part. My Great-Grandparents, immigrants from Poland My ..read more

Earlier in the school year, I remember reading this blog post by the always-thought-provoking Franki Sibberson about how she approaches introducing new topics to students. In this particular post, she explained how she let kids "have a go" at something before she provided any explicit instruction or modeling; doing so can send the message that she already thinks they don't know how to do it. Not only does this provide time for productive struggle, but I believe it also serves as a formative assessment tool to determine what students already know about a given skill or strategy. Franki's words ..read more

In the four years that I've been teaching in a school with 1-1 devices, I've continued to investigate options for sites and apps that will allow my kids to read books digitally. My school uses Destiny e-reader, but kids didn't seem to be using it very often. This year, we've discovered two new options that have become wildly popular with my 4th graders! Epic The first option is the free site Epic Reads. There is an option to pay for access to the site, but I signed up as a teacher and was able to add all of my kids to my account. I love that it features REAL books and gives kids the option to ..read more

I've firmly planted JOY in the center of my classroom world this year. Making learning joyful has always been important to me, but amid the crazy stressful education world we live in today, it seems more necessary than ever. Lucky for me, I have a partner in crime in this endeavor. Maria Vallejo teaches across the hall from me and has become one of my greatest sources of inspiration. She has fully embraced the idea of infusing joy into everything we do. Our conversations leave me richer, happier, smarter. Together, we are going back to basics, if you will. We are making sure each and every ..read more

Hooray!! It's one of my favorite, favorite days of the year. Unfortunately, like many others have said, it tends to be an expensive day as well. Thanks to Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek for hosting the yearly event! After last year's #nerdcampmi, my fourth grade readers and I embraced the idea of a classroom picture book a day challenge. We were inspired by Donalyn Miller's original #bookaday idea which then inspired Jillian Heise to create the #classroombookaday challenge. (I know that isn't the focus of today's event, but it is definitely related and definitely a worthwhile endeavor!) At the ..read more

As I begin writing this, I cannot help but thank our incredible community for nurturing this event and helping it grow into ways we never thought possible! Cathy, Michelle and I are so impressed with how everyone is jumping in, trying new ideas, and supporting the work of each person. Our weekly conversations and comments on our Google community have certainly brought us to new understandings as well.  My Thoughts on Chapters 3 and 4... Creating an educational climate that elevates the level of thinking, discussion,  and performance is ideal when raising the next generation. (p ..read more

Let's get this party started! Cathy Mere, Michelle Nero, and I are delighted to be celebrating the 6th annual #cyberPD event with all of you. As you probably already know, we'll be focusing on just a few chapters each week and culminating our event by the end of the month. While you are certainly welcome to comment on people's individual blog posts, we would also highly encourage you to hop over to join in the conversation on our Google Community and on Twitter. If you are new to the event, Cathy has written a super helpful post about the basics of #cyberPD. We encourage imagination, too! I ..read more

While it is a crazy hectic, exhausting time of the year, I love how my brain begins spinning with new possibilities. What has gone well this year? What do I need to rethink? What new learning needs to take place before the kids come back in August? What are my colleagues talking about, both in my school and in my Twitter PLN? As is tradition, my summer professional reading stack is already growing by leaps and bounds. In just a few short weeks, Cathy Mere, Michelle Nero, and I plan to unveil the title for our 6th annual #cyberPD event. But we need your help! What is on your summer professio ..read more

So I'm not going to lie... I'm totally geeking out over here about an idea I gleaned from Amplify: Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom by Kristin Ziemke and Katie Muhtaris!! We spent some time reading a Wonderopolis article this morning about the metaphor "The grass is always greener on the other side." My fourth graders watched the Wonderopolis video and read the article twice before we started our discussion phase. We've used the Socratic Seminar method several times this year and have done a lot of close reading practice along with our discussions, so it was time to make a le ..read more