Office Hunters
Once we let the idea sink in that we had to move, we immediately kicked into researching our options. What space is available now and what is really going to work for ERG as we usher in this new era? When we came to 4th Street to do work in 2004, we knew at our…
Read MoreAll in a Summer’s Day
Yes, ERG is open all summer. One of the biggest things we get asked this time of year is if we work in the summer, and if so, what exactly do we do all day? It’s a fair question. Most of you see us out in schools during the year when kids are in classrooms.…
Read MoreWhat Happens When You Get Evicted
After 15 years at our West End location, ERG has been asked to move out of our 4th Street headquarters office space. Our landlord needs to make a change and is going to make an apartment out of our office. Sigh… Hope and I walked in this space 15 years ago and didn’t really know…
Read MoreLittle Lessons from Australia
In case you missed it, ERG went to Australia earlier this month. It was a lot of things, but most of all, it was a true learning experience – even for “experts” like us. Looking back, here are a few things we learned: 1. Be less busy. We stayed in a suburb of Sydney called…
Read MoreERG in Oz
When Sue Brookhart mentioned she worked a little overseas, we thought that was cool. It seemed like something that really accomplished researchers/professors/other people did. However, over the last 12 months, we have learned that working overseas is now something ERG does. In August of last year, ERG quietly went to Panama to offer a two-day…
Read MoreWhat Teachers Would Really Appreciate
Once a year, we celebrate teachers with Teacher Appreciation Week. We gather cards and flowers and chocolate and scour Target for the cutest items. It’s fun to shower our teachers with gifts! It’s also important to express our gratitude for what teachers do for our students. However, I think there are a few things teachers…
Read MoreSpring Challenge #4: Read Aloud with Purpose
Raise your hand if you believe the Teacher Read Aloud is like the Jan Brady of literacy. Keep your hand up if you identify with any of the following: It’s that thing we do when we need to fill time. It’s often unplanned and lacks focus. It’s heavily fiction, regardless of the genre we are…
Read MoreSpring Literacy Challenge #3: Develop Agency
Agency. In a discussion with several professionals recently, we all had different ideas about what this idea really means. However, we could all agree it was something we needed students to embody in order for lasting learning to take place. In her new book What’s the Best That Could Happen?, Debbie Miller unpacks the idea…
Read MoreSpring Literacy Challenge #2: The Reading Process
Are you teaching The Book or the reading process? We know you have data, more data, and even more data on top of that. We suggest that as you think about the data, and as you consider the weeks leading up to testing season, you take time to consider that question. Are you teaching books,…
Read MoreSpring Literacy Challenge #1: Let Them Read
It’s (finally) spring, and along with the warmer temperatures comes testing season. This year, before you kick into test prep/worksheet hell, try this simple literacy challenge to fine-tune the coming weeks: Track how many minutes students spend reading during one school day. Research is really clear on this: students who read more achieve more. (And…
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