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Mar 2

Teacher to Teacher:  Does Reading Aloud Really Matter?

By Lynne R. Dorfman

As our already crowded day continues to be even more crowded, how do we fit in time to read aloud to our students?  Does reading aloud really matter? There are many reasons to read aloud, even when you are tempted to snatch that time for more independent reading and writing, or to fit in science or social studies.

A rationale for reading aloud is multi-faceted. It stimulates language development and helps students move more naturally into reading. When we read aloud to our students, we not only model what a fluent reader looks and sounds like; we also model just how enjoyable the act of reading can be. Read more

Mar 1

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Slice of Life 1: Every Eight Weeks

By Janice Ewing

This is a transition weekend for me, between grad classes that is. One semester just ended and the next is about to begin.  There something about transitions that makes me reflective. Maybe that’s why it seemed like a good year to jump into the March Slice of Life challenge, which I’ve followed, but haven’t participated in before. So here it is, a very wintry March 1st, and I’ve just finished “Spring 1” and am about to start “Spring 2,”  with a group of teachers who are new to me, but not to each other. I teach in a cohort program, so if the course, like the one coming up, is far along in the program, the teachers often know each other better than colleagues in their own schools, and I’m the new kid on the block. That raises its own interesting issues – where people sit, food habits, break time, and the like have often been well-established before I arrive. No matter, I’m flexible enough to adapt to those aspects of the ecosystem as I find them. Read more

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