For the week after Thanksgiving, our district was remote. Remote is not the end of the world, but it is very different from in-person pandemic teaching (and light years away from teaching in The Before). The structure and routines that I teach students in class don’t necessarily translate to remote teaching. One of the biggest missing elements is turn and talk, an essential element of my classroom since I believe learning floats on a sea of talk. Remote teaching ends up being uncomfortably teacher-centered. But other routines could easily work in a remote environment, like using my name sticks to call on students to avoid Zoom chaos. I feel so foolish for needing a whole week to realize this, but that’s my brain’s processing speed in The Now. Here’s to a better online learning session next time.

Here is this week’s roundup of literacy links if you’re looking for some quick inspiration, tips, and refreshment:

• “How to Quarantine Your Classroom Library” from Booksource
• Filing this away for when (if…?) I return to coaching
• LOVE these “Fun Ways to Develop Phonological Awareness” ideas from All About Learning Press
• “Why We Should Reconsider Using Word Problems” from Robert Kaplinsky
• I love this time of year because there are SO many “Best of 2020” book lists like this one from the New York Times
• “How to Help a Child with Writer’s Block at Home” for parents from Two Writing Teachers
• I *just* learned that Epic has a monthly reading calendar! Here’s December!
• Mental health break: Nothing interferes with a teacher and good grammar.