We were asked to introduce ourselves in our blogs this week, and that feels funny, since this is the sixth (or seventh?) year I have had the opportunity to contribute to Stories from School Arizona. This will be my 25th
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A Holiday Wish List for ELD Equity
It’s that time of year when the child within us develops a dreamy, far-off look, and her eyes begin to gleam. Sugar plums? A Red Ryder BB gun? A new laptop? A roof rack and two kayaks? Creating a holiday
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25 Word Stories from Monsoon Season 2018: The Haboob of the New, and What Follows
Header Photo Credit: Sharla Hoff I remember that feeling, being in a haboob before we knew the word “haboob.” Wonderment, trepidation, a lungful of whatever was driven loose by wind. First day of junior high, and families arrive together, parents
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Holiday Tears and Cheers with English Language Learners
There are many moments when I really wish my Spanish was better, and yesterday was one of those moments. It was the last day of the semester, and my introduction level English Language Development class (grade 7 and 8) was
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Summer Love
I love summer. I have been wanting to write about loving summer for weeks! But I have been too busy travelling with my family to Costa Rica, shuttling my kids to swim team, water polo, and football camp, reading novels,
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Reality Check for English Language Learners
Snippets of surreptitious conversational Spanish dart around the classroom amid scattered outbursts of giggles. I review the color-coded highlighting of sentence parts in our newest sentence formula involving superlative adjectives, pointing to the laminated neon cards magneted to the
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