Tagged: Katie Durkin

Class Libraries to Inspire and Challenge Readers

Using their own experiences with classroom libraries and ideas from other professionals, Colby Sharp and Donalyn Miller provide insight, wisdom, and actionable practices for teachers in The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library. Katie Durkin highly recommends it.

Routines Can Help Grow Student Literacy Skills

This year Katie Durkin’s 7th grade ELA students are involved in a weekly routine of G.R.O.W. work (Grammar, Reading, Open Write, and Word Work). Each 15-minute lesson aims to ‘grow’ stamina and literacy skills they can apply in her class and across the academic disciplines.

How Fiction Writing Can Transform Students

Thomas Newkirk urges ELA educators to move beyond simply assigning formulaic writing grounded in rubrics and include more fiction writing. Using research as well as student and teacher voices, he shows the benefits of encouraging creativity. A call to action, says Katie Durkin.

How Blank Walls Built Community in 7th Grade

How-to articles often tout the idea of starting the school year with blank walls. 7th grade team leader Katie Durkin decided to finally let go of her need to fully decorate things herself and invite students and teachers to fill the empty spaces with community-building visuals.

Texturing Culturally Sustaining Practices

Lorena Germán easily weaves her personal experiences into the presentation of her Textured Teaching framework, holding our interest as she invites us into a deeper reflection about what it means to grow a culturally sustaining teaching practice and how we can bring that about.

3 Things I’ve Learned as a New Teacher Leader

In her first year as a team leader, teacher Katie Durkin understands she has a lot to learn. But she’s already come to understand that effective leadership means building relationships, trust, and community among colleagues – with student success as the guiding principle.

Learning Spaces That Affirm Students’ Identities

In Identity Affirming Classrooms: Spaces that Center Humanity, Erica Buchanan-Rivera provides teachers with the background knowledge, reflection tools and actionable practices needed to create identity-aware, student-centered environments. For all educators, says Katie Durkin.

The Why and How of Classroom Writing Clubs

The authors invite us into classrooms that foster choice, collaboration and community through writing clubs. Discover the how-to of complement clubs (process, craft, digital) and stand-alone clubs (genre, author, convention). A super resource, says MS teacher Katie Durkin.