May 9, 2020
So, Sara and I have been working on an iteration of this project for almost a decade. We are going to be rolling out this resource this Fall. Nearly 200 lessons ready with slides to project and teacher notes to guide instruction utilizing poetry, prose, mentor texts, language lessons, standards based, while still being fun […]
April 30, 2020
Well – our spring was cancelled. We will sorely miss all the places and faces we were looking forward to seeing. But, as we stay home as we try to flatten the curve Sara and I are not resting. We’re busy at work making face masks . Sara performed an autopsy on a mask we […]
February 24, 2020
OH – IO! Sara and I try to make the Ohio Council of Teachers of English language Arts (OCTELA) whenever we can. We’ve probably attended a just under a dozen or so times the last 20 years – international travel often takes us far away but this year we were able to make it. I […]
February 20, 2020
4.0 GPAs are a dime a dozen. Okay that’s a little inflammatory but the sentiment holds true. The admission process for colleges and universities has become tougher and tougher. With AP and IB classes and the extra emphasis toward college ready students the tip top of the crop is getting more and more crowded. So, […]
February 12, 2020
Reading Recovery teachers are hard core. Chatting with the folks around the Scholastic booth we learned that that the reps were very impressed with the engagement, questions and expertise of the attendees at the 2020 Reading Recovery National Conference. Sara and I have been fans for years, since even before presenting at the World Literacy […]
February 7, 2020
Sara and I have been visiting Eastern Middle School in Old Greenwich, Connecticut for over a dozen years in a row now. They are easily our most visited school. Why? Because we love them, and they love us. We’ve seen these sixth-grade teachers through baby booms, blizzards, missed flights… you name it we’ve seen […]
September 5, 2019
Why You Matter. That was the theme of the day when Sara and I visited Heritage Middle School as our first school visit of the season. This 7th and 8th grade building had a multi-faceted approach to invite the students to explore what made each of them unique and important. They invited Sara and me […]
August 18, 2019
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 […]
April 26, 2019
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 […]
March 26, 2019
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 […]
