"For me, though, writing does not always mean making marks on paper.  Sometimes my writing time is simply thinking time: daydreaming about a word or a line or a poem - lying on our couch, driving to a school, looking out the window at birds on a suet cake... I often find myself wondering what … Continue reading All Are Welcome! My Poetry Invitation FOR You!

“Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.” -Percy Bysshe Shelley Poetry is something that I have always loved. I loved the beauty in the simplicity of the words. It wasn't until recent events did I really start to uncover not only … Continue reading Poetry

Poetry (noun): Something that we all have inside of us. It's in our students and in ourselves. Sometimes it disguised itself without rhyme, without sounding like a limerick. Poetry is found in the most unlikely of places. It's the way we speak to our loved ones every day and night. It's when children are tucked … Continue reading **REVISED** Post-Reading Poetry Post

Poetry (noun): the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts. -Dictionary.com Prior to reading class texts, I am going to write a reflection about my views of poetry. I will reflect on my personal feelings about reading poetry, writing poetry, teaching poetry, criteria for a good … Continue reading Pre-Poetry Reading: Blog Post 1

Like many students of mine, I too grapple with how to begin writing. I struggle with this because I am a product of "teaching to the (standardized) test." I never found my writing voice until I started writing for expression and fun. Even then, I don't think this truly happened until graduate school. Many things … Continue reading Slowing Down Time in Writing… When Writers Use Magnifying Lens

I don't know how my first composition notebook, ended up in my hands, long before I could really write, someone must have known that this, was all I needed."-Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming Narrative writing is one of the most common types of writing in the classroom. However, I believe it to be the hardest. … Continue reading Writing Territories and Inside the Story

"Nurture your sense of what's possible, we cannot create what we cannot imagine."-Lucille Clifton Amy's Example of Defining Word: Small As a writer myself, I sometimes find it difficult to write from thin air. I like to have inspiration, or models to choose to write from. I like using Amy Krouse Rosenthal's book as inspiration … Continue reading Mentor Texts and the Writer’s Notebook

"Just write. Don't evaluate whether or not the stuff you are writing is good or bad. Just write it down. Don't let any ideas escape. Capture them in the white-lined pages of your writer's notebook."-Lynn Dorfman and Rose Cappelli, Mentor Texts This week, I have expanded my understanding of the writing workshop. Writing doesn't always … Continue reading Launching the Writers Notebook; Digging for Treasure

George Website Lesson Plans The moment George reached the ground, she cried too. She slumped against the backstage wall, hugging her knees, as she cried in sadness and joy. Charlotte was dead, but George was alive in a way she had never imagined."-George, Alex Gino Sometimes, we are not always made out to be what … Continue reading ‘George’ by Alex Gino

Amal Unbound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuCRFrm4ZVk&t=6s There it was again, my father's words: Life isn't fair. Maybe it was true, but why was that a reason to just accept everything and go along with it? I hoped the rumor about the girl turning down Jawad Sahib was true. I hoped there was really was someone out there who … Continue reading ‘Amal Unbound’ and ‘Malala/Iqbal’