Authentic Conditions for Authentic Engagement
In Who’s Doing the Work: How to Say Less so Students Can Do More (2016) Burkins and Yaris caution us that teachers can give students too much support. When that happens, we rob students of the opportunity to become active…
Keep readingReflecting on Reading Identity at the End of the School Year
Remember how you devoted time to creating community at the beginning of the school year? Maybe you read aloud multiple times a day, conducted Discovery Conferences to learn about each students’ reading identity, invited students to organize the classroom library…
Keep readingSlovakia #3: Trusting Readers
Before I went into a 6th grade class to talk to students about reading identity (in English), the teachers were worried. They said, “They won’t know what to say. They’ve never thought about this before. They don’t really read a…
Keep readingSlovakia #2: Teachers Matter
On Monday, I visited a lovely school called Narnia. The school was a warm and welcoming place, with teachers and students chatting in the hallway between periods. In the classroom, teachers had a conversational tone with students, and students felt…
Keep readingTurning Slovakia into the Land of Readers
In Bratislava, Slovakia there is a beautiful bookstore. Books line the walls, and comfortable chairs invite you to settle in and get lost in a book. This reverence for readers is not usually reflected in classrooms, where students tend to…
Keep reading“How’s it going with your reading today?”
Tips for Successful Conferring Part 1 It is late fall. You have finished the mandated assessments, students are following routines, there are no fire drills or eye tests to interrupt you today. Students have books that they are interested in…
Keep readingTrusting Emergent Readers
Read our blog about trusting emergent readers here! You can learn more by joining us at the 34th annual Literacy for All conference. We will be presenting on November 4 at 2pm.
Keep readingAn Autumnal “Give It a Go”
Each chapter of our book, Trusting Readers, ends with a section titled: Give It a Go. This section invites you to explore the classroom practices that we highlight in that chapter. October is a good time to pause and reflect…
Keep readingUpcoming Workshops
Trusting Readers has a variety of upcoming presentations and workshops. We encourage you to attend! We have a series of 4 workshops with the Chapters International Learning Beyond series in November. Learn more here! Join Trusting Readers for a 2…
Keep readingNew Article from the International Literacy Educators Coalition
See what the ILEC has to say about reading reform across America: https://radicalscholarship.com/2023/07/28/ilec-response-reading-reform-across-america-the-albert-shanker-institute-july-2023-susan-neuman-esther-quintero-and-kayla-reist/
Keep readingConferring: The Myth and the Reality
The room is quiet. The students are settled in their spots with their books. You sit down next to a child, clipboard in your hand, ready to confer. “How’s it going?” you ask. The child tells you all about their…
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