Tiff4Tat

  “Before making any decision or attempting to bring about any change, great principals ask themselves one central question: What will my best teachers think of this?” Todd Whitaker asks that question on p. 87 in What Great Principals Do Differently: 18 Things That Matter Most (2012). As I reflect on the literacy moves made during the 2023-2024 school year, I think of the times great teachers have been involved in the decision-making process.  The times great teachers have shared ideas.  The times great teachers have had a voice and choice.  Great principals Do . Using that framework, I have included in this week’s blog three key themes to lead a literacy focused school: Be visible as a literacy leader, make reading and books accessible, and engage your greatest teachers (the rest will follow), all students, and your family and learning community.  What follows are practical, easy-to-implement practices for principals to make literacy come alive in your buildin...

“I wrote this piece because I believe it’s my duty as a Mexican American to change people’s minds about Mexicans and stereotypes people say about them because I believe that everyone is equal and everyone should be respected”  – Virginia, fourth-grade writer Turn to page 83 in Cultivating Young Multilingual Writers: Nurturing Voices and Stories In and Beyond the Classroom Walls written by Tracey T. Flores and Maria E. Franquiz, and you will find this quote from Virginia, although her story begins in Chapter 1. This text to teach young writers is dedicated to families. Two beliefs throughout the book stress that writing can be taught and all teachers can teach writing.  On May 2, I had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation with three brilliant educators: Franquiz, Angie Zapata, and Franki Sibberson. The session was titled “NCTE Heart, Hope, and Humanity: Student Engagement in Elementary Spaces” hosted by School Library Journal and Library Journal in partnership with the...

I can’t find the just-right word to describe the moment I open a gift from my mom.  Experience.  Adventure.  Delightful.  Episodic.  To all the moms out there who send gifts on their own terms – authentic, honest and wrapped in love or newspaper or comic strips – I want us all to remember that laughter is the best gift.  The Reading Experience Some of the neatest conversations I have with my mom are around literature. She faithfully visits her local library and picks up three books at a time.  She hates fiction – “Why would I read made up stories that are dumb?” she asked me once. She loves nonfiction, as you will notice from the books shared.  Each book she sends to me is a treasure. Some of the most recent titles are here: Stephen King’s On Writing to explore craft. I have read and re-read this book. For anyone wanting to begin or improve their writing approach and technique, this is for you. Upstairs Girls: Prostitution in the American West b...

I remember clearly the last time I read comics to any degree. It was the 80’s, and I was riding the school bus to my swimming lessons.  I lived nearly 50 miles from the city pool in Glendive, Montana. Every morning for two weeks I was dropped off at the school, and the bus took me and my aunts and the schoolmates I had known since kindergarten to the pool. I don’t remember who on the bus had the Archie Comics, but I do remember the obsession I instantly had with them. We passed them around the bus like an illicit cigarette, slouched down in our seats, our sweaty knees up on the seat back in front of us.  Legs, first slippery then glued to the green, sticky bus seats with the heat. The smell of chlorine floated down the bus aisles. Our fingers greedily flipped through the wholesome pages of the comics, which in the 80’s were known for their strong Christian themes and morals as Spire Christian Comics had acquired the license.  To hell with motion sickness exacerbated by no...