Food for thought...

Today I had the privilege of listening to and learning with Penny Kittle.  Penny Kittle is a classroom teacher and literacy coach from Kennett High School in North Conway, New Hampshire.  The focus of today's learning was on reading and writing workshops.  Her presentation made us laugh, cry, think, cry and reflect.  Not sure that there is much more to say.

It is always so wonderful to leave a professional development session with some inspiring new ideas that will assist me with my ongoing journey to becoming a more effective, relevant and contemporary educator.  Through my experiences I have come to realize that I have not "made it".  I am always looking to improve and update  my craft in ways that may inspire more of my learners.  Today, I came away with a few new tools and strategies that I look forward to sharing with others.  Many of the ideas are so simple but yet so brilliant.

Thank you to Penny for facilitating a day of reflection and personal growth.

Check out Penny's Website here:  Penny Kittle and you can follow her on Twitter @pennykittle

Have a look at some of my Twitter reflections from the day.  As Penny put it, "Twitter is armchair PD for educators".

When considering reading instruction....

Our initial pre assessment for reading should be to find out ARE THEY READING? 

When considering writing instruction...

Our initial pre assessment for writing should be to identify:  WHAT CAN THESE WRITERS DO?

Then:  WHAT DO THESE WRITERS KNOW?