“You should buy yourself a good piece of jewelry,” advised my boss and mentor, the late Irish poet Eavan Boland. Eavan had a way of saying things that were exciting, bracing. “A thing worth doing is worth doing badly.” “The only way out is through.” I always believed her. It was 1997 and I was 32 years old, living in a studio apartment in Menlo Park and working as a lecturer. Until this time, my resources had been sparse, and I had no comprehension of financial hygiene. I had finished college with the help of a Pell Grant, scholarships, work-study jobs, and loans. Graduating into a recession, I had impractically found the kind of publishing position in which the salary...
I wonder if the dead send us random thought mail? Ethereal messages from beyond the veil, their meaning intentionally elusive. The other night I dreamt of Lane. He was a friendly, pudgy, red-headed boy I knew in grade school. He used to join my group of friends at lunchtime. We would sit in a circle on the playground asphalt, amidst the tetherball poles, telling jokes. He had a hardy laugh, often spitting flecks of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over us. “Being a kid was much more fun than being an adult. Life was sweeter then.” ― Trevor Carss I didn’t know Lane well, and our lives intersected briefly. The private school we attended shut down and...
Read alouds are such a great way to work on so many literacy skills, but it can be difficult to differentiate them for students in special education. Book companions take the guess work out of read alouds! I’m going to share some winter book companions you can use in your classroom. This is the planning guide included in the book companions. Teacher Planning Guide I’m going to give you a walk through of the winter book companions. The first component included in each book companion is a teacher planning guide. When I said this will take all the guess work out of read alouds, I really meant ALL the guess work. The planning guide will walk you through every activity...
The proportion of Americans who read books for pleasure is now at its lowest level ever recorded. The American Time Use Survey—which studies a representative sample of 26,000 Americans—found that between 2004 and 2017 the proportion of men reading for pleasure had fallen by 40 percent, while for women, it was down by 29 percent. The opinion-poll company Gallup found that the proportion of Americans who never read a book in any given year tripled between 1978 and 2014. Some 57 percent of Americans now do not read a single book in a typical year. This has escalated to the point that by 2017, the average American spent seventeen minutes a day reading books and 5.4 hours on their phone....
February is upon us! The snow and cold are definitely here where I am; it's been below zero and snowing! There are two important days within the first two days in February- Chinese New Year and Groundhog Day. I am going to highlight some resources for these two special days. Chinese New Year - also known as the Spring Festival marks the beginning of the New Lunar Year! Chinese New Year is celebrated all around the world. Chinese New Year is February 1st, the year of the Tiger! Find out more about this tradition with the Mini Escape Chinese New Year. There are comprehension pages, a short video, puzzle, and pictures. You may not have time do incorporate this as a full lesson...
