Blog

August 18, 2019

I know what you did last Summer.

Here comes another school year. How was your summer? Sara and I kept busy paying visits to educators across the country. We worked with principals In Ohio and Utah – giving keynotes and breakout sessions at their annual conferences – we unfortunately did not visit Iowa – and were therefor unable to claim the 4-letter […]

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April 26, 2019

Singapore American School

It’s like New York City dipped in bleach. That’s how I describe Singapore when I am asked. Sara and I have a deep fondness and admiration for the city and the school there where we have spent so much time. Singapore American School truly is one of the elite educational institutions on the planet and […]

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March 26, 2019

Carol Morgan School Santo Domingo DR

Head to the Caribbean in the middle of march from Cleveland? Why yes, thank you. Sara and I brought our style of writing instruction to the Dominican Republic for the first time. It was great to be working overseas with absolutely no jet-lag! It was also great to be working with such enthusiastic teachers and […]

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March 12, 2019

Michigan Reading Association ’19, Grand Rapids, MI

So, Sara and I slept in the same bed as the President of France. Well maybe not the exact same bed – he did stay in the same room 38 years earlier they’ve probably replaced the mattress since then. Michigan Reading always treats us like we’re actually important, but they went out of their way […]

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March 11, 2019

Zaharis Literacy Conference, Mesa, AZ

If you’re not doing things that scare you a little you’re not progressing. First off – Visiting the Zaharis Literacy Conference wasn’t scary at all – it was a delight. How do these oases of stellar learning spring up? Principal Mike Oliver has created a read read read friendly environment that made me wish I […]

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March 7, 2019

Montgomery Middle School, Montgomery, Maryland

As much as we relish our adventures overseas we love our visits to schools right here in the good ol’ USA. A whole bunch of our work is repeat business and our friend Lisa the librarian has invited us to three different schools where she has graced the library with her enthusiasm. A couple times […]

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March 6, 2019

Escola Americana de Campinas – Campinas, Brazil

Nobody told us the wheels were going to fall off of the plane in Amsterdam. Hopping a plane from Istanbul to Brazil is not the most direct way to get Campinas – but, it’s the route we accepted. Here’s where being a frequent flier comes in handy – we were able to rebook our flights […]

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March 6, 2019

ENKA International School, Istanbul

Our contact in Istanbul – George the librarian was one of the most thorough poet wranglers we have worked with in a long time. He had everything spinning in time with the whirling serenity of the Dervishes we saw turn-tabling just before we began our week at ENKA International School. Celebrating our love of reading […]

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February 6, 2019

Champion Middle School, Champion , Ohio

Sara and I love our visits to Ohio schools. We also love our travels around the country and the world – but our home state is still special to us, and the folks at Champion Middle sure made it easy to love this visit. This was one well prepared school thanks to our main poet […]

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February 3, 2019

Cultural Imprinting, That Governor in VA, the Kid in KY, and Why YA Literature is so Important

It’s not all in our DNA, a lot of who we are as adults comes from the cultural imprint of our families and social supports as we grow up. A lot of my cultural imprinting came from my maternal grandmother, who did the better part of raising me as my mother was an alcoholic and […]

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