Month: May 2023

Dounia and the Magic Seeds by Marya Zarif is an incredibly beautiful and moving picture book celebrating the resilience of the Syrian people escaping for safer ground. Dounia is a six year old girl whose ”shining hair holds thousands of stories and the kindness in her eyes makes the birds sing”. Her name means ‘the… Continue reading Dounia and the Magic Seeds by Marya Zarif

Kindness. The world needs more kindness. It's a simple statement but a complex idea. How do we grow kindness? One way to start is by reading The Yellow Áo Dài by Hanh Bui. The mother's kindness in the book overwhelmed me. Listen to my in depth conversation with Hanh about why she chose to portray… Continue reading The Yellow Áo Dài

In my district, a child’s elementary school experience comes to an end in the fourth grade.  For the students, this comes with the excitement of summer and end of year celebrations.  For my fourth grade team and I, this means reflections on a year’s worth of growth as we support our students in their culminating… Continue reading Until Someone Listens: A Story about Borders, Family, and One Girl’s Mission

I have an anxious class. For some students, their anxiety is LOUD. It comes out as interruptions, distractions, talking back, work refusal. And on our hardest days, tears. For others, their anxiety is quiet. It comes out as silence. Doodling in the margins, doing just enough to make it seem like work is getting done… Continue reading When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left