Learning from Immigrant Perspectives

“What preoccupies me is immediate: the separation I endure with my parents in loss. This is what matters to me: the story of the scholarship boy who returns home one summer from college to discover bewildering silence, facing his parents. This is my story. An American story.” ~Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory, 1982   When […]

How do you know if you’re making a difference that matters?

This is the year that everything seems to matter— and yet no one knows if what they do day-to-day matters very much at all. It’s certainly the paradox of our time and especially for teachers. I think it’s important to reflect on our everyday practice and put into question our views about the purpose of […]

Thoughts on Writing: A Blog Hop

After a wonderfully relaxing vacation in Southern Spain, I came home to find an email from Maria Maldonado inviting me to participate in The Writing Blog Tour. As you can imagine, changing the scenery from rustic beaches, majestic mountains spotted with lazy bulls and sunflower valleys to the urban landscape of New York City was […]

Voice, rather Teacher’s Voice

Lesson today on voice in 6th grade reminds me of the lesson in writer’s workshop where non-stop writing happening and that was supposed to be a lesson on voice.  Child named Nylah exclaims, what is the purpose of this activity and I ask her (ever so politely) what do you think? Another child chuckles and […]