• Constructing a Mini-Lesson: A 4 Part Framework

    When my oldest daughter was four, she went through a dinosaur phase. All dinosaurs, all the time; it was impossible to discuss anything else. Throughout the year, we traveled as a family and she learned to read. Slowly, her interests began to broaden and develop, and now at the…

  • Chaos Coordinator #HackingPBL

    This weekend I return to Los Angeles to collaborate with the teachers of LA Unified School District. Last time I was there, they gifted me a shirt that says, “Chaos Coordinator.” This got me thinking about the ways we coordinate the chaos in a PBL classroom. Here are four…

  • Learning Lounge – PD The Relaxing Way

    On a Sunday afternoon in early winter, you walk through the front door of your local bookstore. As you warm your hands and stomp the fresh snow off your feet, you glance around the store at your fellow patrons: a teenager curled up in a comfy chair reading a…

  • #PersonalizedLiteracy – Student Discussions

    One of the things I find myself talking about a lot is our work to transition to Personalized Literacy classrooms. In classrooms where literacy is personalized, students spend time reading and writing in class. They also have the opportunity to talk about their reading and writing with teachers, classmates,…

  • Context is King

    I have vivid memories of my high school chemistry class. I can almost feel the splintered wood chair beneath my legs and smell the sourish, sweet scent that filled the room (the origin of which, I never dared to ask). I was a fairly successful student, but chemistry left…