Self-management: Working with my ADHD brain to get stuff done

I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2020. What a year that was for so many reasons! But the diagnosis helped me to start to get a handle on some aspects of myself that were holding me back that were manageable with the right tools. I was a mess in most aspects of life; overstimulated and…

Four Principles of Universal Design for Learning that inform my work

This week, I decided to write a post about a framework that influences and informs basically all of my work: Universal Design for Learning. In the age of personalized learning, as the Mandalorian would say, UDL is the way. It is the way to systematically meet students where they are and support their progress. It…

High School Book Club Launch

This school year, one of my goals was to establish a Book Club run by/for high school students. The idea is to celebrate the joy of reading beyond what is required for schoolwork, and have a space to discuss the books they choose to read. My school is a 100% virtual school, and students are…

Book Club Reads: Solo by Kwame Alexander & Mary Rand Hess

After 2 rounds of voting and a couple of chats in our meetings, we reached a consensus: Solo, the story of Blade, the son of a loving-yet-troubled rock star who is frequently in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. My students were intrigued by the musical theme, and identified with the protagonist immediately. Blade…

Coach’s Challenge: Leap into Writing

As a coach, I often focus on working with staff to build student capacity for writing. You might be able to tell that one of my go-tos is The Writing Revolution. What’s not to love? The sentence-level strategies reinforce the writing process in chunks, leading to more frequent practice for students. For the past 2…

¡Viva The Writing Revolution!

A few years ago, I heard about the book The Writing Revolution. I was a reading specialist assigned to HS students at the time, and I was looking for ways to support my students in their core classes. What I found within the pages of this book has transformed my teaching and the way I…