I want to share something that gives me hope for the year to come: a weekly routine for getting the work done within set working hours. I piloted this schedule for two weeks before Winter Break, and it seems poised to do well for me in 2015, which seems like it could be my busiest year ever. […]
simplify
An Obituary for Close Reading
Close reading, one of the most ubiquitous terms of the Common Core literacy era, passed away yesterday evening. Ironically, its death is mourned by the very teachers (myself included), administrators, coaches, consultants, and authors who killed it through overuse. In its final hours, close reading lay on its deathbed and reflected on its meteoric rise to stardom and similarly rapid decline […]
A Non-Freaked Out, Focused Approach to the Common Core — Part 7 — Teach Character
The Common Core does a pretty good job of laying out some key cognitive skills students need to have to be ready for a career or college. Yes, for you CCSS doubters out there, I said it — I think the standards are good. Granted, I like boiling their goodness down and distilling it into […]
A Non-Freaked Out, Focused Approach to the Common Core — Part 6 — Write Like Crazy
One of the biggest bang-for-your-buck Common Core standards is W.CCR.10, which basically says, “Write frequently for many reasons.” And the amazing thing about writing is that it achieves so many things simultaneously. For example, in the “Writing to Read” meta-analysis report, researchers found positive effect sizes for all kinds of writing, ranging from the mundane […]
A Non-Freaked Out, Focused Approach to the Common Core — Part 5 — Every Kid Speaks
[Update from Dave: my all-day literacy workshop for 6-12 teachers across the content areas includes a solid segment on getting kids speaking and listening in a way that increases their long-term success and improves their mastery of content. Read more about that workshop here. I’d love to come to your school.] Prior to the Common […]