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The chance to Restart

I just finished reading Restart by Gordon Korman. I am in awe of these writers that can have a zillion great books but this one really stuck out to me. Not just the premise of getting a chance to start over for a bully that loses his memory. In itself I think that is andContinue reading “The chance to Restart”

Large or Small a book should change you

My favorite educational writers Kylene Beers and Robert Probst have taught me many things. Most recently in the book Disrupting Thinking they put out the idea that the things we read should have some kind of impact on us as readers. Either through learning something new or building up an established idea or maybe evenContinue reading “Large or Small a book should change you”

Summer in t-minus…

Find a great book, go on a hike and enjoy every minute. I plan to work some planning for my new job into my busy schedule of sun tanning, reading and…sun tanning. I hope everyone has the summer they are hoping for. I plan to blog about books and other things as the summer rollsContinue reading “Summer in t-minus…”

A year of growth, change and thanks

This time of year things seem to just fly by. Field Trips, swimming, projects and test prep just seem to bring us to the end of the school year at an accelerated speed. The warm weather never helps because the kids just want to be outside and to be honest so do I. Reading outsideContinue reading “A year of growth, change and thanks”

Passionate readers are life long readers

Today as I was teaching at one point I just had to take in the laughter and smiles as we talked about Ancient Athens. I can’t remember what made me go on some tangent ( a regular occurrence) but the laughter that followed made it worth it. My passion for Social Studies comes out inContinue reading “Passionate readers are life long readers”

We use Reading Journals…so should you

Choice There is a lot of discussion in the teaching world that centres around choice. Students having the choice in how to represent their ideas and what types of books they read is pivotal in student engagement. At the start of the year I decided that I was going to use reading journals asContinue reading “We use Reading Journals…so should you”

Proud Day

We had a lot of fun today. The kids have been working on research projects to teach the grade 2 kids about different insects. I could talk about all the high yield learning activities we did but instead I want to talk about how great it was. The presentations and games that the kids madeContinue reading “Proud Day”

World Book Day

Today is a bit gloomy and the perfect day to sit down and read a good book. I have focused so much of my personal professional growth and teaching this year on the importance of reading. Not just reading but what we read and how we read. In years past I was very focused onContinue reading “World Book Day”

Every child a reader

I just finished the most amazing teacher support book entitled “Disrupting Thinking” the main premise is that when thoughts or ideas surprise us, confuses us or conflict with previously held beliefs that a disruption occurs and we should pay attention to those disruptions in our thinking and examine them. This book has done exactly whatContinue reading “Every child a reader”

New teacher book means new thoughts

As a class this year I have taken us on a journey to become better readers. At the start of the year I wanted to focus on all sorts of different strategies and skills. I wanted to fill their toolbox so that they could really enjoy their books and achieve deep levels of thinking andContinue reading “New teacher book means new thoughts”