As promised, for this blog post, I will let my students speak. I teach sixth grade at a public charter middle school on Cape Cod. I have 84 students in my ELA classes. They cycle through in groups of 14 this year, sitting in beach chairs on the classroom floor as stiff breezes scatter leaves … Continue reading The Students Speak
Thanksgiving Takeaway
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity on the Thanksgiving front, as we head into the holidays and the first big break for students. From all of the webinars popping up in my inbox offering to help me teach about Pilgrims and Native Americans to the wild turkeys roaming serenely through my … Continue reading Thanksgiving Takeaway
Are You Listening?
This past week, I sent my students outside to listen. With a pandemic shaping the ways teachers work with students this year, I've redrawn the curriculum to include an opening unit on nature writing in order to maximize our outdoor time this fall. The act of being outside and engaging with the world using all … Continue reading Are You Listening?
Re-Thinking Space
As the bobcat rumbled away last week, I admired the transformed hillside next to our school. It had been cleared of the lumpy hillocks and spotted spurge and other pricklier species. We had created a smooth blank canvas, a sandy slope now carved to accommodate the construction of eight cedar beds with wide and mulchy … Continue reading Re-Thinking Space