I am so crazy about writing workshop and teaching creativity, that I build in a special prgoam into my AP Language classes. 

One of the key ingredients to teaching creativity is the year-end PORTFOLIO!



I just finished grading my AP students' portfolios, and it was wonderfully rewarding to see how much they had learned from class and how far they had come as writers and artists. I cherish this time of year because of these projects - so I wrote a new blog entry about…

Are you interested in teaching student to love writing, poetry, mind-mapping, and other creative pursuits?

My work is based on the Writing Workshop model espoused by Nancy Atwell, Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, etc. Plus, I add layers and layers of new ideas!

Check out my website! You'll find a blog of new posts, a free book, and a gallery of student samples.…

Helping Parents Help Their Children with Math Homework

In this article in Teaching Children Mathematics, Regina Mistretta (St. John’s University/New York) shares strategies for getting parents involved in their children’s math learning. Here are questions that teachers could suggest parents ask their children if they are struggling with math homework:

• What problem are you working on?
• What do the…

“I Want to Be a Waitress Just Like My Mom”

In this thoughtful article in Educational Researcher, Stephanie Jones (University of Georgia) and Mark Vagle (University of Minnesota) quote the following exchange between a 

young girl and her teacher:

Student: When I grow up I want to be a waitress just like my mom.

Teacher: Oh, you can do so much better than…

Why Grades Should Reflect Mastery, Not Speed

Ed Week

I am the principal in a grades 7-8 school, perhaps the last venue where we try to give kids second, and sometimes third, chances. This happens mostly with discipline, but also with academics,…

An Open Letter to Pearson

Ed Week

Dear Pearson and, by extension, McGraw-Hill, and the rest of the companies that produce standardized tests for our classrooms:

Schools all over New York state just finished giving the tests…

The Lost Art of Teaching Soundly Structured Lessons

More than 20 years ago, I was able to give my sister, Kathy, a life-saving kidney. It almost didn’t happen: Initial tests indicated that I was not a good enough genetic match to make the operation successful.…

In June 2013 the tone of the professional dialogue that I am hearing sounds more and more like a race to the end rather than arriving at a place at the top, with little left in our professional reserves to have a healthy disposition towards the important work that we do both now and in the future.  With battle lines hardening in the larger polity, education is caught in the grips of a debilitating claim of right and wrong, us and them, new and old.  I keep asking myself, how…

There’s an interesting article in the October 24^th issue of New York magazine written by Noreen Malone. It’s titled: “Coming of age in post-hope America”. The article reflects the feelings and attitudes of some young people today. The statement in red, on page 23 of the article she writes, My screwed, coddled, self-absorbed, mocked, surprisingly resilient generation. Does…

4 Ways High Schools Can Promote Creative Expression in Their Students 

With the constant budget cuts reducing the availability of artistic electives, and the intensified focus on standardized tests, it can be hard to feel as though there is any room left for creative expression in school districts. For students, this can be discouraging and result in boredom and disinterest in their academic efforts, and for those who are part of the administration,…