Why Guided Reading shouldn’t be mandated in schools
Imagine there was a hospital that only trained its surgeons to put plaster casts on its patients. They’d heard about the benefits of plaster casts and how great they were …
4 books to spark start-of-year notebook writing
Notebook writing is the perfect start-of-year activity for your literacy classroom- it builds community and teaches students timely strategies for generating ideas for writing. Now that’s a win-win right there. …
A crucial first step in improving writing instruction
I love a good inspirational quote. My childhood gymnastics coach, Mr Palmer, introduced them to me. You couldn’t even go to the bathroom in his gym without facing uplifting words …
End of year self-care for teachers and leaders
Last week I was fortunate enough to listen to mindset coach Kylie Broadfoot (from KMB Coaching) speak on a very relevant topic for this time of year: self-care. At first …
3 common change leadership mistakes in schools
My husband and I have always loved the outdoors. The bush is our defibrillator; it recharges us and brings us back into our natural rhythm. It clears the mind and …
6 reasons every teacher should read aloud every day
When my year 3 teacher, Mrs Margaret Browne, told us she had to pull on a pair of gloves before she could start reading our new class novel, I don’t …
10 books to teach friendship, kindness and Gratitude
Does this sound like you?: “We’ve had so many social issues this week- Our students have forgotten how to get along with each other!” While everyone was worried about the …
How to Plan for Effective Genre Instruction
I’m in the middle of running the Writing Traits Masterclass at the moment (and LOVING it!) and I’ve had lots of questions about planning for genre instruction. So, here’s my …
Why is literacy important? (A lesson from 2020)
As far as books go, 2020 has turned into Margaret Wild’s ‘The Sloth Who Came to Stay.’ You know the picture story book about the busy family forced to adjust …
5 assessment tips for remote learning
“How can we assess students in the online environment?” This is a question I‘ve been asked A LOT lately. So, here are 5 tips for approaching assessment in the remote …