Strategies for Classroom Teachers By: Cameron Carter Those in the field of education, at one point or another (probably in one of those after school staff meetings), have heard the phrase, "Research shows early intervention is a key component to a child's reading success". Many teachers heavily rely on intervention specialists to pro...

By Laura Robb Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything. Plato "The only way to read the world is by traveling the world!" Unprepared for these words recently spoken by a first-year teacher during a collaborative conversation on independent reading, I delayed responding. As eve...

Mrs. Rita M. Wirtz, MA There's so much going on right now in the world, in particular, I'm extremely concerned about the resurfacing of the "reading wars." I have no control and can't fix much, but I can help with re-conceptualizing why educators are so quick to "throw the baby out with the bathwater." To tell you my truth, I think it's ridi...

By: Harvey Smokey Daniels The greatest source of tears and heartbreak in our family, over all of our child-raising years, was homework. Like by far. Like 90%. Those unbidden, meaningless assignments, the mechanical worksheets, and odd-numbered math problems constantly led to friction, battles, resistance, weeping, and regret. It felt like th...

By Laura Robb and Evan Robb Classroom libraries can be conduits for change, providing all children access to texts that affirm who they are, open possibilities for what they can become and help them to develop the habit of reading. Teachers have tremendous power to amass text collections that develop students' academic, emotional, and so...

Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D. A few years ago, my four adult children were home for the holidays. Every evening after the dinner table was cleared and the dishes were done, we'd get out a board game and play for at least an hour. This was a great time to be together, to talk, to just have some shared fun. Once the kids had left and my wife...

Young Literacy Learners Take Center Stage By Mary Jo Fresch I began my teaching career as a third-grade teacher in 1974. The district reading program was a synthetic phonics series. I regularly had students required to repeat the second-grade reader because they had failed to keep pace with their peers. These students needed c...

Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D. Kent State University "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." Albert Einstein "I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning." Plato "Art has the means...

Written by Mary Howard In 1972, I began a passionate professional journey in small town Missouri as a special education teacher. That year, and each year that followed, children became my teachers. Since my entry into education, understanding student-centered intervention approaches has continued to inspire my professional curiosity. When a...

By Travis Crowder Exceptional writing teachers have taught me valuable lessons about how writers find ideas. Over time, writing has become a space for me to wrestle with my thinking, and I've accepted that when I finalize a blog or book, or essay, that piece of writing is only as good as my current understanding of the topic is. It is imperf...