For the past few years, one of the first reading/writing tasks I’ve asked students to take on is to think about their “Landmark Texts,” those books that left a mark on them as both readers and teachers. I start out by sharing my own landmarks… texts that changed me in some way or that I go back to over and over again. Last year, these five texts were: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (A gift from my [...]
With less than a month left of school, I am starting to plan my summer. Like many other teachers, I use my “downtime” in the summer to catch up on my professional reading. Doing this in the summer is a good idea for a couple of different reasons. First, I actually have time to sit down and READ, since I don’t have papers to grade or lesson plans to write. Second, I tend to spend my summer reflecting on the [...]