August 4th, 2017, Stockton Unified School District Workshop
“Very informative. I loved learning about close reading.”
“Great lesson on how to teach close reading by someone who is more than qualified to teach it.”
“The writing assignments were fun. I look forward to taking this into my classroom.”
“Usable information. Wonderful.”
“Great strategies we can use in our classes. Well organized and useful information was given.”
“Will be useful for my classroom this year. Looking forward to having students go through the process learned in training today.”
“Gained different strategies for incorporating literary academic language into practice.”
“Bill provided an excellent, well-scaffolded lesson using an excerpt from Poe. He reinforced the importance of literature across the levels. His lessons were clear, and I am excited to use them in my classroom. Bill is very personable and quick to share ideas. Loved the academic rigor in the lesson which Bill made accessible for all levels.”
August 2nd and 3rd, 2017, Tracy Unified School District in Tracy, CA, 2-day training
“Finally! A workshop that was teacher-driven by competent educators. The presenters were knowledgeable and accessible. The book is teacher-friendly and very helpful. Thank you!”
“I rarely write ‘strongly agree’! Thanks for the coaching and patience! Excellent time flow management! Great scaffolding for middle school! Wonderful content and help!”
“Very organized and practical. Everything I learned I can apply to my own classroom. Thought the ‘So what?’ phrase is great; can’t wait to see their reaction after saying it for the 1,000th time.”
“Please have the James’s come back. I was very impressed and really enjoyed having our speakers. Great job.”
“Great, useful activities and focus on rigor.”
“Time was well-spent and informative. Liked the ‘So what?’ approach.”
“Great, dynamic duo!”
“The presenters were knowledgeable and kept things interesting.”
“I learned some new ideas that I can implement this year.”
“This was quite helpful. Having actual teachers who work with students and have used these techniques was a smart choice. I look forward to using this this year.”
“Thank you for helping us enrich our curriculum w/rigor. I am looking forward to reading your book.”
“Two days in a row with lessons I can use immediately!”
“The instructors were very organized and had us active the entire time.”
“Really developed ways to promote understanding and creating connections with literature.”
“This has been the most relevant workshop in years. Thoroughly satisfied.”
“Bring Liz and Bill back!!!”
January 9, 2017, University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, 1-day training
“Very engaging! I wish more teachers would attend! As an administrator, it is enlightening to see solutions to bringing critical thinking to the classroom through literature.”
“So many great things in this workshop. I want to try everything TOMORROW!!! Thank you so much!”
“Extremely informative and useful. I found and will implement at least three strategies (close reading, on-demand writing) that I will use right away. Thank you!”
“This information needs to be shared with our curriculum director!”
“Thank you for all of the methods that I can use in the classroom. As a new teacher with no experience, this information is extremely helpful.”
“Really effective and simple strategies. As a first year teacher, I would strongly urge my undergraduate peers to check out this presentation and the Method to the Madness book.”
“Informative and entertaining, with plenty that will be useful in the classroom.”
“Thank you. Workshop went by quickly and had great, engaging, purposeful information.”
“We were offered many examples/useful samples of student work and activities. We can use this material in the classroom for planning—especially how to increase writing.”
“Y’all are amazing.”