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Two students wearing masks and reading books, sitting on a rug in front of a bookshelf full of books

Looking for space, joy and grace

A few months ago, I was in a Zoom call with Deans of Students at various Quaker schools. One of the questions asked, to which everyone took turns responding, was basically, “What does it feel like at your school right now?” And what I said, a few months ago, was, “It feels like we’re trying…

NaNoWriMo

In the middle school writing rotation, fiction writing came up on my unit map this year. While I have a curriculum that I regularly use to teach writing, I had a crazy idea- what if my students participated in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? NaNoWriMo is traditionally an adult-led tradition where people worldwide commit…

Getting to know you (and me) through buddy letters

A date, a salutation, at least five sentences, a picture they’d like, a closing, and your name.  It’s good to ask at least one question so they have something to respond to.  These were the parameters of a buddy letter, as a few complaining middle schoolers explained to me.  What were they complaining about?  Not…