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Here is the new rubric from Carly, modified from ANATTY:

This letter is from Anne to the parents of a kid that needed to be contacted about their kid’s poor verbal choices in class: Hi Ben, My new thing when a kid says something inappropriate is “I’m gonna tell your mother you said that” and I do, after one warning.   Here is the email: Dear

It’s time to destroy the myth that problems and solutions in stories are difficult. The myth exists because, in the past when teachers have tried to use stories to teach certain vocabulary from lists, the stories lost their marrow and became like a dry bone. This was due to the constraints on interest that came

Remember during a story to periodically recycle information. I always do that whenever somebody comes into my room with a note or some other interruption, so common in our buildings, which slightly derail our stories. Recycling means summarizing what has happened so far in the story up to the point of interruption. It is like

I didn’t choose this profession to be bored. I chose it because there is so much potential for fun in this work because the intellectual curiosity of kids, unlike so many adults, hans’t been entirely snuffed out yet. I figured such people would be more interesting to work with than, for example, people in the

Denver Public Schools struck today. It’s just so simple. The people who control the money don’t want to give it to teachers. They have it but won’t give it. It’s about enough salary to live on. They are offering an additional $2.5 million and we want $8 million. That’s for 5,700 teachers. It’s not a

Sorry about the loss of communication. First time it’s been that bad but it’s fixed now. I plan on writing more on the Invisibles this month and next, just to give a heads up. Of course, all topics are fair game, but we must keep mental health and classroom management always at the top of

I was just reminiscing about the first time Invisibles happened in my classroom in New Delhi. I actually went back and found them, the very first ones. It’s so much fun to reminisce. You will know one day, if you don’t already, about the power in these things. Here they are:

Hey we haven’t talked about our map that Sean made years ago. If you haven’t already, please click on the tutorials page above and put a pin in the map so we know where you are.

I know we can’t get rid of all testing in schools. It would be like removing one of the eyeballs (the only one?) from a monster. He wouldn’t like it. But the testing monster doesn’t see very well in the first place, with his vision limited to, precisely, only what he can see, which is

Disclaimer: my opinions on testing are based on my reading and interpretation of the research during 40 years in the classroom. Schools suck the life out of good people unless we know how to fight by only acting interested in their stuff (testing) and keeping our doors closed and really focused on our stuff (good