It all started by accident really. Just before recess. On Friday. Out of a need to recognize and give a voice to those students who were consistently acting as role models for the others in the class. I pulled the... Continue Reading →
Completed 13 hours of professional development to receive the MAPA Certification.
The impetus behind this idea came from constantly reading over the Grade 2 Common Core standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.6 which basically states that students should, "with guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in... Continue Reading →
Eventually the time will come when we ask our students to self-reflect and/or assess their writing. Sometimes in the form of a rubric - sometimes in the form of a checklist - two stars and a wish, whatever you want... Continue Reading →
Born out of lack of success in having students independently use their class word wall, high frequency word lists, or personal spelling dictionaries to edit their writing my co-teacher @YYteach and I decided to give the Don't and Do spelling strategy... Continue Reading →
One of the key components of any writing mini-lesson is modelling what we expect of our students. Often this takes the form of "guided" writing. However, over the years I have found that this wasn't always as effective as it... Continue Reading →
My conundrum is that in the classroom I use my computer to take anecdotal notes, look at student data on the fly, etc (especially during conferring for reading/writing). Oftentimes however my computer is connected to the projector cable and so... Continue Reading →
Every year the struggle is the same. Eager second grade writers pour their hearts out into their "small moment" personal narratives but without much to show for in terms of word choice or elaboration. In the spirit of sharing, one... Continue Reading →
March 2019 found us exploring Siem Reap - a destination that had been on the family bucket list for some time. We spent three days there and loved every minute of it. Siem Reap has a special mix of old... Continue Reading →
