Tag Archives: professional development

Fired Up, Ready to Go … to #NCTE12

At this time tomorrow, I’ll be “wheels up” and on the way to Las Vegas for the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention. (If you’re already in Las Vegas, save some fun for me!) What am I excited … Continue reading

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To All New English Department Chairs

To All New English Department Chairs, First of all, thank you for taking on such an important, demanding job. You will make decisions that impact the literacy of every student in your school. You are the buffer between the teachers … Continue reading

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Why I’m Going to edCamp Oshkosh

Next week I’m heading up to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for edCamp Oshkosh. What is edCamp? Sometimes called an “unconference,” edCamp is a grassroots professional development movement for educators. There are no pre-set topics. Attendees decide what they want to explore and … Continue reading

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Review: QUIET: THE POWER OF INTROVERTS IN A WORLD THAT CAN’T STOP TALKING by Susan Cain

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain My rating: 5 of 5 stars Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking is a powerful and important … Continue reading

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Top Ten Lessons Learned: 2011-2012 Edition

1.  Blogging is the perfect vehicle for leading students to write for an audience that goes far beyond their classroom. 2.  A good strategy to help young writers close the gap between what it says on the page and what … Continue reading

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Today’s PLC Meeting: What Have We Learned?

This all needs to be prefaced by saying I have nothing but respect and admiration for the three colleagues in my Professional Learning Community. Although it’s an arranged marriage—in other words, we are assigned to be together—I couldn’t ask for … Continue reading

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Institute Day (According to Wordle)

We just received our agenda for Monday’s all-district institute day. The main focus of the day is creating a series of district-wide, course-specific benchmark summative assessments. I popped the agenda into Wordle just to see how it looks. Pretty interesting. … Continue reading

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Last Week on Twitter

This was originally posted on English Companion Ning in October, 2010.  I’m re-posting it here so others can see it as an example of how to convey the value of Twitter as a professional development tool.   Although Twitter is … Continue reading

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Let’s have an all-district institute day! Part I

I’ve frequently said that my on-site professional development experiences are … not too productive … which is why my online professional development experiences are critical to my continued professional growth. I’m staring down the barrel of a district-wide institute day … Continue reading

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