I am teacher, mother, reader, writer and lifelong learner trying to make sense out of the crazy current climate in education. I was a classroom teacher for 13 years in Somersworth, Barrington and Plaistow, NH where I taught grades 3 – 6. For the last 13 years I have had the great privilege to work with teachers and their students in New Hampshire and Maine in the Learning Through Teaching model of embedded professional development through the University of New Hampshire’s English Department. I work with Thomas Newkirk and Louise Wrobleski and a host of other incredible consultants. We are grounded in the work of our “founding fathers” Donald Murray and Donald Graves as he brought the Writing Workshop into schools all over the state and the nation in the early 1980’s. I believe in the Reading/Writing Workshop model in literacy as it provides safe space, choice, time and direct teaching for students individually as well as as a community. I also have the opportunity to work with schools outside of New England through Heinemann Publishing where I present workshops on Reading and Writing all over the nation. My goal is to get to work in education outside of the United States in the future.
Conversation Education
Talking through what it means to lead a literate life and beyond.
Conversation Education 
Hi Tomasen,
Just wanted to let you know about March Madness Poetry in case you don’t already know about Ed DeCaria’s great tournament where kidlit poet/authors “authletes” write poems from a word prompt. Amy LV and many other fabulous poets from Poetry Friday and the Kidlitosphere are in it this year. #MMPoetry2013 or thinkkidthink.com
So LOVE your posts. I saw Don Graves speak many many times. He was my hero and still is. In fact I would say he saved my education career. I was always seeking new ways to do things and created some of my own, but finding him, then Nancie Atwell and Lucy Calkins and the others back in the early days was truly a Godsend for me. Kindred spirits who KNEW that the 3 basal reading group model was NOT real learning at its best and certainly the English textbook exercises were not writing either!! I used to do something I called SSW…..so in effect, freewriting. Amazed at what kids did. But didn’t have the tools to continue to help via conferring etc.
BTW my husband is an “old” PEA grad!
Hope to find you on FB.
Thank you for liking my post, as it brought me to your site. I too am going to try to make my classroom a place of joy through poetry this month- poetry has always brought out amazing things from within my students, and has always been a force in my life. So happy to know I am part of a wonderful community of educators.
Thank you so much for liking my post. May you reach your goal to teach outside US. There are many opportunities for you. I support you. You will surely make a difference. Cheers!
Ruby,
Thanks! I hope so too! Where are you again?
Tomasen
Hi! I am from the Philippines. You might like to try teaching in Kuwait or Singapore. There are many needs of native English teachers there. Good luck!
You should go and teach – the world is open for passionate teachers. Education and learning in all it’s forms is intriguing and satisfying when absorbed through pleasure and interest. And we don’t all have the same learning interests. This is my experience as a teacher and trainer for many years. Although, I now write a food blog which you happily passed by making me happy too! Thank you and have a wonderful day!! 🙂
Thank you for liking my Rainbow post. I am so happy to come across your blog, as it seems like an amazing resource for educators to have a VOICE. Love this and I will surely come back to connect with and hear what other teachers have to say…Betty
Betty,
Thanks for your kind words.
I look forward to hearing more from you!
Tomasen
Hi tomasen,
thanks for liking my blog post “diane ravitch is my idol”…i’m so glad that brought me here to ur blog, which is great!! & it seems we have much in common….”trying to make sense of the crazy current climate in education” is exactly what i too have been doing, & also Ive been seriously looking into teaching overseas! Look forward to reading more of your posts & seeing you on the battlefield!!
🙂 Jill
Jill,
I think more than ever we need to band together and the world of blogging is just one place to do this! Thanks for reading and welcome!
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I teach my classes this way (university and college level). I didn’t know it had a name!
What an amazing resource are your blogs. Thank you so much!! And I think what I love most is that you are truly teaching by having students teach, but with humanity and love. I was in a great program at UC Berkeley back in 1970. We spent every day in an elementary classroom. At that time I think most student teachers spent very little time in an actual classroom. Such a mistake.
And my blog — turtlelearning.blogspot.com is thrilled to find Mr. Newkirk’s book. I am retired after 30 years — teaching mostly adult education and then switching to school library and admin of the school libraries for LAUSD. It’s as if your blog is giving me oxygen in a sea of smog (literally and otherwise here in Los Angeles).
Joan,
Thanks for reading and responding. I so admire that you are still reading professionally! Going to check out your blog now!!
Tomasen