by Mary E. Cronin | Jul 17, 2024 | Cape Cod, Teaching
It was three years ago this week that I signed my contract to become a Literacy Coach in a school district here on Cape Cod. I love working in a K-3 school, where the magic of emerging readers and writers is crackling! I wrote a poem about working with a struggling...
by Mary E. Cronin | Apr 5, 2024 | Poetry, Teaching
I wrote a poem about the magic of teaching a child to read, “Still.” It captures why I love what I do as a Literacy Coach in a K-3 school. It’s just been published in the latest issue of Radical Teacher! Although there are days that I wish I could stay...
by Mary E. Cronin | Dec 3, 2023 | Community connections, Conferences-workshops, Poetry, Teaching
Have you ever felt like you were in the sweet spot, a place where the two overlapping circles in a Venn diagram meet? That was me, attending the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) 2023 Convention in Columbus Ohio. Being at the conference brought...
by Mary E. Cronin | Sep 1, 2023 | Poetry, Teaching
Feel that drumbeat? School is starting. A new school year fills me with hope– hope for fresh starts, open hearts, new learning. I’m back to work in my job as an elementary school Literacy Coach. How perfect to kick off this school year by celebrating the...
by Mary E. Cronin | Jun 9, 2023 | Community connections, Poetry, Teaching
It was a joy to be the Visiting Poet at PS 86 in the Bronx last week! I attended kindergarten there, and PS 86 was also the polling place in our neighborhood. I have many memories of accompanying my parents to vote, and of my mother working as an election worker...
by Mary E. Cronin | Mar 3, 2023 | Cape Cod, Conferences-workshops, Poetry, Teaching
This week I led a professional development session for teachers, “Vitamin P: Boosting the Use of Poetry in the Literacy Block.” For three hours, we played with poetry! We talked about how to infuse poetry across the curriculum, find rich and meaningful poems, and...