Teacher Talk

As writer of fiction, I often wonder about the real-world impact of the stories I tell. Sometimes, when I read the news and pause to reflect on the ongoing struggles in so many parts of the [...]

by Christina Soontornvat, author of The Tryout I once heard a teacher tell her students that graphic novels were “dessert” books; meaning, they were light, sweet, and fluffy, and kids should only [...]

When I was a classroom teacher, I hung my students’ names vertically on the back cabinets and under their names, I strung their art projects, essays, pictures, conference goals—whatever we were [...]

Creativity begins with wonder. For my first picture book, Leo + Lea, my wonder began upon meeting a boy who didn’t like stories; he just liked math. As a lover of stories, I was filled with [...]

What percentage  of your classroom library collection is nonfiction? When I proposed this question to myself , I realized that my classroom library collection had roughly less than 20% nonfiction [...]

When we read, we connect with others without the fear of rejection. Every page is promised to us; it is in our hand, waiting. When we ‘read’ without words, we are left to infer, and to infer [...]

At the end of my final day as a fourth-grade teacher, I stood in my empty classroom and sobbed. The official line was that I was leaving teaching midway through my fifth year so that I could [...]

With the election season just finishing up, it feels like all we see, hear, and talk about is politics. Looking ahead, it will be another contested presidential battle in 2024.  We know as [...]