And Breathe. 13-Hours on the Go. Now it's Time to Concentrate on @NCTE. We Got This. Exhausted, but Now the Rejuvenation & Joy Begins

Here's to everyone and all who use I-95 to get to and from work, especially the teachers who can't afford to live in the communities where they teach and end up stuck in traffic for hours just to serve the communities they teach. That is Connecticut life, and yesterday Elisabeth Muller and I had the honor of working with the Greenwich High School History Department. I've been at this school thing for 26 years, and doing PD almost the entire time. I have nothing but KUDOS to sing to the teachers, learners, and visionaries of those in this department. I've never seen such a willing, engaged, and ready-to-go leaders in my life. They were just thirsty and ready to do better with their students. 

I was assigned to offer best practices in writing instruction for history classrooms, and Elisabeth introduced the Historian Notebook, an adaptation she made as a Masters student at Fairfield who participated in the National Writing Project work. After I squawked about studies, she put the scholarship into action. Her notebooks sold the day. 70/30. 70% historical interaction and 30% reflecting on new knowledge and writing reflection. 

They were engaged. She had data to prove the point. And she did this to engage the most reluctant learners in her space. The notebooks, she claimed, brought them into history and suddenly they were motivated.

It's been a while since I used a smart board, and it is horrible to have talk to such crowds with masks, but it worked. And it was well received. 

Phew. Then we sat in traffic getting home. All good. I didn't get to go home, anyway. I went to teach graduate students, but let them go early. I was too tired to maintain the entire evening. The steam simply went out of me (and I wanted to prep for NCTE), but not before the content area teachers I have at night named what they feel are best practice gained from reading and experiences in the course. 

• create space for often, structured discussions,
• make connections to the real world,
• eliminate traditional quizzes & tests. Creative projects work.
• make learning more fun,
• choose readings that are interesting, 
• fit readings around lived experience, who students are, 
• build positive rapport with students,
• be excited about material, 
• have good models for what is expected,
• offer flexibility and choice with how you want kids to prove their learning,
• build community between readers,
• represent diversity, inclusivity, and equity in materials offered to youth,
• perform as a reader, writer, thinker, and creator of your own content world,
• build relationships with every kid,
• provide students with background information,
• break down terminology, and
• make students feel comfortable and heard in the classroom.

Okay. Okay. They are getting it. Now, for them to do it in their student teaching: Biology, Spanish, History, English, Chemistry, and Math. Onward.

And onward I go. To Louisville...with my NCTE/NWP/ALAN family. I can't wait. If only it was in person...oh, LWP family, JCPS family, and bluegrass family....the fun we would have!