Great Stories By and About Women: Your Suggestions

March 13, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

Yesterday on Instagram, after a disappointing experience with a popular influencer’s memoir, I reached out for a little help. I asked readers and friends for their favorite memoirs and stories of badass women doin’ good. Here are the suggested titles, plus a few I found at my local library, if you’d like to see: Turning […]

February Antiracist Book Club: White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo

March 11, 2020.Reading time 15 minutes.

In 2020, I’m attempting to read at least one book each month specifically to help me on my antiracist journey. I’m not an expert, and I’m not a professional. You’re welcome to read and learn along with me, if you’d like. January: Waking Up White, by Debby Irving My February antiracist read was White […]

Things That Made My Brain Explode: March 10, 2020

March 10, 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

Articles and news stories are constantly pushing me to consider something new, broaden my perspective, or change the way I look at an issue. My husband likes to joke that my brain explodes with something new on a daily basis. These articles – and the brain explosions that result from them – are so beneficial for […]

Ms. Fitz has Read… March 3, 2020

March 4, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

What is Ms. Fitz reading? Here’s the view from March 3! February is one of the most difficult months in teaching, in my opinion. This February has been especially weird, with zero snow days, wild weather, and lots of extra obligations. If I’m being honest, I’m kind of surprised I read this many books. Small […]

Four Wonderfully Surprising Recent Reads

February 29, 2020.Reading time 13 minutes.

Isn’t it just the best when a book turns out to be a happy surprise? I read a lot of books, but every so often one comes along that really surprises me. Here are four wonderfully surprising books that I’ve read recently, if you’d like to see. Emmy in the Key of Code, by Aimee […]

Quest: Exploring Food Insecurity with the Rice and Beans Challenge

February 28, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

The average Supplemental Nutrition Benefit Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit per meal in the US is $1.86 (source). For the final experiment in our How Can We Help Solve the Hunger Crisis? Quest, we did an experiment to find out what its like to prepare a nutritious, delicious meal for our “Quest family” on that budget. […]

On Pronouncing Names and Owning Mistakes

February 24, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

All of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders have been learning about the amazing work of Vashti Harrison in preparation for her visit through the Virginia Festival of the Book next month. They’ve been talking about her nonstop, and we’ve been studying her work in many of my classes. And last week, in a meeting about […]

50 Books We Loved for a Skin Tone Picture Book Walk

February 23, 2020.Reading time 11 minutes.

After posting Finding our Color Words Using Honeysmoke last week, readers asked me to share a list of the picture books that we used and loved for our skin tone picture book walk. I pulled these books thoughtfully and with my human skin tone palettes in hand, hoping to include as many shades as possible. […]

Finding Our Color Words using Honeysmoke

February 20, 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

Since our schoolwide conversation about Black History Month, the kids have been curious and open about discussing race and differences. Here’s a lesson, inspired by middle schoolers, that I shared with my K-4 students last week, if you’d like to see. Last week, I was talking to my middle schoolers about what they […]