CTL Staff Spotlight: A Passion for Adolescent Literacy

CTL Staff Spotlight: A Passion for Adolescent Literacy

The online bios of CTL staff members feature quotes that reflect each person’s passion or special interest within education. For Educational Programs Specialist Ashley Perkins, the quote actually includes the word “passion”: “Adolescent...
Was Life in the Middle Ages Really a Fairytale, Continued

Was Life in the Middle Ages Really a Fairytale, Continued

Guest Blogger Stella Baker is an English Language Arts teacher at Owsley County Middle School. She has been teaching in Kentucky schools for 29 years. Over that period of time she has taught a variety of subjects and grade levels, but has always returned to middle...

Leadership and the Common Core: English Language Arts

School leaders face a significant challenge in implementing new reforms, which seem to come with increasing frequency.  While the Common Core Standards hold promise for shaping a deeper, more thoughtful curriculum for students in English Language Arts (and...

Mentoring: A Personal Perspective – 10 Things I’ve Learned

I am a first generation college graduate that grew up in severe city poverty.  I wasn’t one of these children that didn’t know they were poor; I knew at a very young age.  I was aware of labels that people shared to describe me from the time I was five.  My mother...

Closely Examining Our Students

My husband’s uncle lives in Melbourne, Australia and recently sent me a link to the works of a Melbourne artist by the name of Sam Jinks. I was immediately captivated by the sculptures that loaded to my screen. Sam Jinks, a hyperrealist artist, captures his subjects...