by Phil | Mar 6, 2020 | Education, Equality
I had a school visit cancelled this week. No, not because of the novel coronavirus. The school would not allow me to speak to its middle school students — middle school students — about A High Five for Glenn Burke, my new middle grade novel. The school...
by Phil | Nov 29, 2017 | Books, Education, Ideas
Every student deserves to experience an author visit. It doesn’t matter if they attend a rural Title I school in York County, Nebraska or an elite prep school on the Upper West Side of New York City, every student should have the opportunity to experience an author...
by Phil | Jul 2, 2016 | Books, Education, Ideas, Social, Tips
Last November, I traveled to Minneapolis for the NCTE annual conference in Minneapolis. It was one of the best conferences I ever attended. My Personal Learning Network (PLN) came to life. I got to in-person meet so many of the friends and colleagues I’d been...
by Phil | Jun 20, 2016 | Education, Ideas, Memories
The Teacher and the Rock Star For those of you that know me, you know Wonder by RJ Palacio is one of my favorite middle grade novels. It’s a book every elementary school kid should read or should have read before middle school. One of my favorite lines from Wonder...
by Phil | Jun 20, 2016 | Education, Ideas, Recommendations
Talking TWO NAOMIS With Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Audrey Vernick Earlier this spring, I was able to get my hands on an uncorrected proof of TWO NAOMIS, the middle grade novel by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Audrey Vernick that pubs later this summer just...
by Phil | Jun 18, 2016 | Books, Education, Ideas, Recommendations
Last year, when I first heard about Lisa Yee’s new Super Hero High series, I could barely control my excitement. Even before I got to see and read Wonder Woman at Super Hero High, the first book in the series, I knew kids were going to love these books and that...
