Do you ever feel like all you do is wait? I have been doing a lot of unexplainable waiting for a couple years. A few years ago I had my dream job! I recognize how blessed I am that I got to experience that, but that opportunity ended and I…

This has been quite the journey. The last blog post I wrote was April 21, 2021! The next day I woke up with COVID. That was a horrible experience for me. Much worse than many people I know, but not so bad that I was hospitalized. However, my journey with…

“Effective listening is the single most powerful thing you can do to build and maintain a climate of trust and collaboration. Strong listening skills are the foundation for all solid relationships.” -Michelle Tillis Lederman Eighty percent of our waking hours are spent in some form of communication and most of…

“Students are readers of the past and present so they can become authors of the future.” — Dr. Ernest Morrell I love that quote above! Everyone has a story that is uniquely their own and want to share it. Some people want to share it outloud verbally and others are…

“The most important thing about communication is hearing what isn’t said.” — Peter Drucker This series has focused on the many aspects of engaging children to be readers. One important aspect of that is digital media. Education in the 21st Century must include teaching responsible digital media engagement. So what…

“Thinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed with the ability to think clearly and logically — without learning how, or without practicing.” — A.E. Mander How we read is just as important as what we read. That is why it is critically important that…

“Practice makes permanent” — Bobby Robson Yesterday I discussed how important focus and stamina are and how that equates to practice. If you want to improve at anything you have to practice! There is a saying, practice makes perfect. I like this adaptation much better, practice makes permanence. Trying to…

“Focus on progress not perfection” — Bill Phillips I have spent the majority of my career learning and thinking about literacy, specifically as it relates to struggling readers. Why do some readers struggle? Why does it come so easily for others? I am not a researcher, I am a practitioner…

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents” — Emilie Buchwald What do powerful ELA classrooms look like? If asked, could you define the most powerful literacy practices in a classroom? I would like to highlight what I believe to be those powerful practices starting in this blog…