Have you tried Jamboarding yet!  Yes, I just said "Jamboarding."  LOL!  The things that come out of my mouth (or from my keyboard) this year are certainly new and surprising!  But, seriously, if you have not yet tried this cool tech tool in your remote teaching, you are really missing out!  The possibilities are virtually endless, but in this post I will show you 10 exciting ideas for using Jamboard in your reading instruction that will keep your students engaged and asking for more! Jamboard Basics Check out this video for a very quick tutorial on how to setup and ..read more

Hello friends!!  I hope you are well and navigating the pandemic as best as you can.  It has certainly been a year for the books! Chances are, you have been immersed into a world of online teaching at some point this year and it has likely had its ups and downs in terms of success.  Teaching writing remotely has been one of the biggest hurdles for many elementary school teachers for a variety of reasons. There are so many things to consider:   How will students manage their materials from home? How will they turn in assignments? Will they type their work? Ho ..read more

Happy Summer everyone!  I truly hope that you were able to escape the craziness just a little bit this summer.  After a very stressful spring, a summer that has gone by in the blink of an eye, and a fall full of unknowns looming...I thought a fun blog post might be in order.   Let's face the facts:  Remote learning is likely to be part of our future in the coming months (and, dare I say, years).  There are so many things to consider as we settle into this new reality, and it can be super overwhelming.  I am hoping that today's post takes some of that stress ..read more

This post may be coming to you a bit late, but hopefully I can provide some tips and resources to support your efforts to bring small group reading instruction to your students in a way that is manageable for both you and them!  IT CAN BE DONE! School ended (as we know it) here in Michigan on March 13 (yes, it was Friday the 13th).  After the shock wore off, panic began to set in.  My thoughts were spinning:  "How will we support our striving readers, who are already so far behind their peers?  They receive so much support at school...single dips, double dips, trip ..read more

This post is just for fun!  I shop A LOT!  Too much in fact.  I try not to, but I just can't pass up a good deal when I see one.   This year, I will post a monthly list of some great finds...just for teachers! This month I thought I would start with a list of ten essential things that every elementary classroom MUST HAVE.  When I created this list, I kept in mind those things that I absolutely could not live without in my classroom.  I've included tried and true brands to save you time time shopping around.  Trust me...these items are THE BEST! 1.&n ..read more

The phonics debate is in full-swing.  I think they are calling it "the science of reading" now, and the idea of "balanced literacy" is taking a beating.  I taught first grade for 17 years using what I would call a balanced literacy approach, and yes, PHONICS was a critical element of my daily reading program.  I am rather shocked at the assumption that primary teachers are not teaching phonics, because that is not what I witness in my role as an early literacy coach.  I also do not believe a phonics program is the magical silver bullet that is going to fix the literacy cr ..read more

This post addresses TWO of the Essential Practices for Early Literacy:  Practice 3:  Small Group Reading Instruction and Practice 9:  Ongoing Observation and Assessment.   These practices were created by the Early Literacy Task Force, a subcommittee of the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA) General Education Leadership Network (GELN), which represents Michigan’s 56 Intermediate School Districts. TARGETED INSTRUCTION How well do you know your readers?  Research has shown that the best reading instruction is differentiated to meet t ..read more

Welcome back!  Today I want continue the discussion of Essential Practice 1: Essential Practice #1:  Deliberate, research-informed efforts to foster literacy motivation and engagement within and across lessons. The third bullet of this practice states: The teacher offers regular opportunities for children to collaborate with peers in reading and writing, such as through small-group discussion of texts of interest and opportunities to write within group projects. Collaboration is a fancy term that means...LET THEM TALK!  As teachers, we love quiet classrooms, don't we?  ..read more

Essential Practice #1:  Deliberate, research-informed efforts to foster literacy motivation and engagement within and across lessons. Do your students LOVE reading?  Do they beg to keep reading when reading time is over?  No?  If your students are struggling with stamina, they may not have "the right" books in their bins.  This post outlines some strategies to help your students to find books that will tickle their fancy and keep them reading long after the required "20 minutes" is up. 1. KNOW your students and their interests. If you want to match books to readers ..read more

They show up in our classrooms every new school year.  You know the ones....they drag their feet to their reading spot, stopping to chat with four or five friends.  When they finally make it to their spot, they s-l-o-w-l-y start browsing through their selection of books, pausing frequently to look up at the ceiling, at the door, at their shoe.  When they finally choose a book, they randomly flip around, pretending to look at the pictures.  This is what DISENGAGEMENT looks like.  Some students are better at faking it than others.  Some quit faking it a year or tw ..read more