A Throwback Thursday post from Thanksgiving 2018
A Thanksgiving lesson with my mom… My mother is dyslexic and loves history and language. At first she wasn’t in the room when a...
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5 min read
Keeping Her Joy
A few years ago, I had a student, who I'll call Autumn, and she was probably the most joyful student, maybe even child, that I've ever...
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4 min read
Do Grammar Worksheets Really Do Anything for Students?
Maybe. I understand that is a wholly unfulfilling answer (even though it's likely the truth), but I think we can expand on it a bit to...
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4 min read
What <wh> Words Have to Do with Rocks
It's not every day you meet a child whose grandfather is a geologist by hobby, nor is it every child who actually cares that his...
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2 min read
The Reason We Spell Affixes
Revelation Revolve Repay Repel Refer Recall What do all of these words have in common? You may be tempted to say they all have a "re"...
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3 min read
What Red Pandas Can Teach us about Words
Red panda bears don't really look like red panda bears. They look like red raccoons, maybe. They kind of look like red skunks in a way,...
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4 min read
2023 In Review
This year we dived deeper into some of the waters we explored last year. We've grown as educators, business owners, and human beings.
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A Different Kind of Session
(All identifying information about the student mentioned below has been removed to protect the student.) I knew it was a different kind...
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3 min read
Coming Full Circle
I’ve always loved architecture. Whether it’s the haunting shapes made from decades of waves washing against rocks or man-made buildings...
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4 min read
A Journey in Teaching Literacy
It’s my anniversary. Not that anniversary. Not the kind for sharing pics of myself in a white dress and veil waiting for my beloved with...
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The Death of Practice
In schools across the country, practice is dying. Or it’s already dead. That seems like hyperbole, but hear me out. I work with a...
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The Real Reason Etymology Matters - My Son's 6th Grade Class
So, my son comes home from his second day in 6th grade excited about his reading class. This is great news, as reading has been a...
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1 min read
The Fourth Question
The fourth question. I find this last question to be the most troubling for people. Teachers aren't always confident with how to tackle...
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Cute Little Visuals and Why They Don't Help
Many of us have seen them by now. The word <their> printed with a little man as the <i>, the word <there> with the <r> as an arrow, and...
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4 min read
The Flat-Earthers of Literacy
Sara and I spent this past weekend in Dayton, OH at the Etymology! VII conference. This was my third Etymology! conference, and I...
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