Sep 29
By Kelly Virgin
What better way to build community in a classroom than by building a community of readers. Penny Kittle details just how to do that in Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers. Kittle’s book reads like a step-by-step account of how to turn even the most adamant of non-readers into eager and thoughtful book consumers.
By Diane Esolen Dougherty
Several years ago Time magazine devoted its cover story to the latest wunderkind educational reformer. It was an in-depth look at “state of the art” practices in education, particularly in teacher accountability. One anecdote from the article was telling, at least to me. The reformer was doing a walk-through in an elementary school in the district. After observing a teacher for several minutes (yes, I wrote minutes), her decision was made. “I’ve seen everything I need to see,” she said. Nothing of merit was happening in that third-grade classroom. The teacher was conducting a class meeting, and class meetings are not instructional. All class time was to be devoted solely to instruction. Read more
By Janice Ewing
On a mid-summer evening in 2013, a small group of PAWLP Fellows sat down with plates of pasta to devour and an idea to develop—a blog that would invite and encourage all PAWLP fellows to write, share, and connect. The idea had been simmering for a while but was finally ready to come to a full boil. Read more
We are celebrating the one year anniversary of the PAWLP blog, and what a year it’s been! To celebrate our one year “blogiversary,” we’ve collected some posts from this past year that may be particularly useful to teachers as a new school year begins.
So in case you missed them, here are a “baker’s dozen” – thirteen blog posts with some practical tips and inspiration. We hope that you enjoy reading our blog and encourage you to comment, ask questions, and share your own experiences. We would love to hear from you! Read more
Sep 22
By Carrie Hagen
I wasn’t sure how I would do it. After taking a two-year leave from teaching high school English, I would be returning to the classroom.
I had ushered students through the starts of twelve school years, but this year’s opening felt new to me. I walked through the inservice days with the usual to-do list: organize classroom, dust off posters and props, make seating charts, print class lists, assemble papers to photocopy, grab books from the bookroom, consider opening day activities. I had madly juggled these tasks in past years, but this time around, I hesitated. Read more
Sep 17
By Wendy Hopf
One hundred energetic sixth graders greet me each day, and I need to be ready. As an English Language Arts teacher the actions I take in September and October are critical for setting the tone for a successful school year. In a nutshell, my practices reflect my beliefs:
”We are a community of learners who respect each other’s space, time, and learning and accept each other’s ideas. We trust that Ms. Hopf will guide us, but we are expected to work hard throughout the class period. We support each other, have fun while learning, and gain the rewards of learning for its own sake.”
To create the habits and attitudes I am striving for there are four practices I follow. Read more
write.share.connect 