"I knew Ted Kesler was an essential voice for upper elementary teachers after reading his book, The Reader Response Notebook: Teaching Toward Agency, Autonomy, and Accountability. Working with Ted in the classroom, the faculty and I saw how his knowledge and abundant resources brought new insights to our reading and writing instruction. Ted was flexible in his preparation, generous with his time, and highly attentive to the needs of our students."
-- Jane Bean-Folkes, ELA Supervisor, South Orange & Maplewood, NJ School District, January 2023
Sample Exit Slips from Paramus Literacy Summer Institute Week-Long Course:
- Your personality, mannerism, enthusiasm, and smile made the class so enjoyable!
- I really really enjoyed the workshop and have learned so much that I will be trying out in my class this year. Thanks so much!!!
- The resources you provided were invaluable. Thank you for keeping such diligent records of all the materials and examples you shared in class. I'm sure other teachers will appreciate this moving forward. Thank you!
- Dr. Kesler, you were a wonderful presenter. I love the shifts in thinking I’ve had this week about how to approach what was formerly a real dredge for both me and my students. I’m so excited to take these ideas back and do better for my students this year. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas, research, and learning with us!
- I wasn't familiar with your work before this week, but I've been telling all my teacher friends about you. I can't wait to dive into your book. Thank you for a wonderful week!
- You were an absolute delight to spend the week with! I learned so much and would love to learn more from you!
- You are truly a pleasure to have as an instructor. Thank you!
Ted came highly recommended by a colleague and did not disappoint. Not only did he deliver quality professional development to my staff by workshopping lessons and modeling instruction, he also gave useful and timely feedback to me and my team. Where so many staff developers and consultants tell you what to do, Ted shows you. Thank you, Ted, for listening to what our staff needed and helping us move forward in meaningful and lasting ways.
-- Robert Marino, Principal, PS 120Q, Flushing, NY, June 14, 2019
Are you a school leader looking to expand your staff’s core beliefs as to what children are capable of achieving? Are you a school leader who experiences frustration with packaged programs because teachers feel that they cannot deviate from the script, thereby limiting teacher resourcefulness and creativity? As an instructional leader, are you looking to develop your teachers as risk-takers in order to improve their pedagogy? If so, then Ted Kesler is the perfect consultant to work with your staff.
Ted began his work with PS 104Q in July, 2016 to revamp writing instruction by introducing writer’s workshop on Grades K-5. As a high-needs elementary school in Far Rockaway, NY, our staff was very skeptical at first and repeatedly asked, “Can our students do what is being asked? Can I do what is being asked? Where will I find the time?” As the school leader, I reassured them to trust the process and know that we were all on this learning journey together.
The beauty of working with Ted is that he never dictates what needs to be done. Rather, he works with school leadership in understanding our vision. He then draws on teachers’ strengths, talents and expertise to collaboratively design cohesive instruction horizontally and vertically tailored to the school’s needs. Due to Ted’s style of collaboration, open mindedness, and willingness to listen to teacher and supervisory concerns, he earned our trust, respect, and admiration.
This type of work requires a dedicated, knowledgeable consultant such as Ted Kesler, who is passionately driven to improve reading and writing instruction! All I can say is that the proof is in the pudding! Where students previously moaned and groaned when it came to writing, students are now begging teachers, “Please, just a few more minutes. I want to finish this paragraph! Please can I have a few more minutes with my writer’s notebook?” If you want to change the learning culture for both your staff and students, Ted Kesler gets the job done! As I tell him, “Ted, you are a wiz and a wonder! Thank you for all you do for the staff and students of PS 104Q! You have made a difference in the lives of our students and staff!”
Katie Grady, Principal PS 104Q The Bayswater School, Far Rockaway, NY, July, 2017
I can’t say enough positive things about the amazing work that Ted Kesler has done with our school! Ted has been working with us for over a year and there has been an incredible difference in our ability to differentiate professional development offerings, develop teacher understanding of ELA content, delivery of instruction, and the creation of unit plans specific to our needs.
Ted has been able to build strong relationships with our teachers and earn their trust in a very short time. They all know that he is there to help them further develop their craft and is more than willing to demonstrate his suggestions with students so that teachers know that he understands not only the theory but practice as well.
If you are looking for someone to help guide the development of teachers within ELA and assist in creating the professional development vision of your school, Ted would be a great choice!
Sincerely,
Robert Groff
Principal, P.S. 244
March 10, 2017
Thank you, Ted. Your work with our middle school team was time very well-spent. Our literacy leadership team appreciated your effort to learn more about our schools and our strengths and priorities as we planned the work together. In two days, you engaged our middle school teachers in thoughtful discussions about literacy teaching and learning in a manner that allowed them to experience instruction from a student's point of view. This provided them with a sense of the value of the experience and also a practical model that could be put into place fairly easily.
Your warm style and ability to listen to teachers' questions and concerns went a long way to get everyone involved in conversation. Thank you again for the time spent in Easton and Redding. We hope to work with you again in the future.
Best regards,
Stephanie Pierson Ugol, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction
May 10, 2016
- "Today's workshop provided many ideas for how to more successfully integrate reading into the classroom. I can see how to assess along the way; how to clearly include these ideas in my classroom."
- "This was a great day. It reminded me to have quick, frequent check-ins with students to assess understanding of texts and procedures. I am also thinking about next year and the need to do reading surveys as a first step to getting to know my students as readers."
- "Today was so affirming and helpful to think about chunking the strategy instruction into manageable and specific parts. I really enjoyed the reading and talking groups. Thank you for sharing all of the resources and for your your time and expertise."
- "Thank you for a great day. I will be thinking of ways in which I can improve formative assessment and work harder to include students more in the process. Thank you for sharing your resources and for your pragmatism."
- "Such a great reminder of formative assessments and that not everything needs to be a huge "to do." I now want ot make sure my studnets have a clear checklist of learning goals they should achieve for each unit. Great day. Very helpful and informative."
- "One of the best workshops I have ever been to. You presented so much valuable information to take back to my class!"
- "Loved the entire organization of teaching the non-fiction mentor text, from the interactive read-aloud to the writing of the summary to the visual displays (reformulations), and then the use of multiple texts. I loved "reading into the room." I enjoyed the display of great books you brought. I will be doing this work right away."
- "Very informative! It was organized and helpful. Loved all the practical activities and examples. I can't wait to now read Balloons Over Broadway."
- "I will use all the activities you presented today!"
- "I loved the activities and how useful and engaging they were and practical for my classroom. You sparked my love of picture books again!"
- "Very informative and affirming of our teaching practices. Thank you."
- "This was an excellent two day workshop. Mr. Kesler provided many ideas that can be incorporated in our classrooms. I enjoyed the modeled shared and interactive writing, as well as the 'star book bin' idea."
- "I learned many new things. Excellent resources! Thank you."
- "Your two-day workshop has reminded us what fun teaching is like and how children can have fun and learn at the same time. I really enjoyed the two days we spent with you."
- "I loved this workshop. I've never had training in balanced literacy and I find all these ideas and techniques very helpful. I intend to implement many of these center activities and guided reading strategies both for the rest of this school year and next year. I do not like poetry, but the poetry ideas you showed us will be very helpful to me, so I could incorporate more poetry into my planning. Thank you."
-- sample exit slips from participants, Early Childhood Center, Brooklyn, NY, May, 2015
"Thank you for sharing with our diverse group on this 10th day of June. You are a gifted educator and a fun, understanding presenter. You are an expert. Thank you."
-- exit slip from participant, Hempfield School District, Lancaster, PA, June 10, 2014
"Ted’s present work with my teachers involves working (formally) with four of my educators, grades three to five. I say formally, because the work has impacted many more people through the teachers sharing of this work, and the subsequent excitement and refinement for the younger grades. This work around making the Reader’s Notebook a tool for thinking has caught fire here! As part of our Schoolwide Goals we have been approaching student to student conversation, argument and its impact on their reading and writing. Clearly, working to make text based arguments and reflections in their Reader’s Notebooks has the possibility to create a tread, or roots, or a deepening hold on understanding in all areas of content. Importantly, this work has students and teachers alike treating the notebook in a way that I don’t believe has been experienced by students since the Ralph Fletcher days of notebook keeping. This work has the potential for lifelong practice. I am simply thrilled will the effect it is having in the building."
-- Reva Gluck-Schneider, principal, P.S. 144Q, Queens, NY, February 3, 2014
"Dr. Kesler has now worked directly with almost all the professional staff and continues to bring new project initiatives to our school. Based in his extensive experience as a classroom teacher and ELA staff developer, Dr. Kesler brings an unusual balance of practical pedagogy and theoretical understandings to these projects."
-- Helene Jacob, principal, P.S. 499, Queens, NY, July 23, 2013
"The primary focus of Mr. Kesler’s work with us related to Word Study. In addition to providing professional development in a standard workshop-type setting, he also modeled lessons in classrooms with students. His model lessons received high praise from our teaching staff and I believe they helped our teachers to become better practitioners themselves. He also developed a blog to support teachers in their work over the course of the year. He answered their questions and posted additional resources to this blog regularly. This blog helped to establish a larger learning community within our district and extended our professional development to outside the school day.
"Mr. Kesler has a very strong work ethic and through my planning meetings and informal conversations with him I could tell that he makes a point of staying abreast of the best practices in literacy. His passion for his subject matter is evident."
-- Christine Diaz, Supervisor of Staff Development, Paramus, NJ School District, May 1, 2013
"P.S. 69 is a high-needs school that services poor and minority students in one of the highest poverty areas (the South Bronx) in the country. Ted knew how to work in highly effective ways with the teachers and students in our school. He held them to the highest standards, but also gained their trust and friendship. They all knew how much he cared. He guided teachers in implementing book clubs, writing workshop units of study, more comprehensive approaches to vocabulary and spelling, more rigorous teaching of non-fiction texts, interactive read-aloud, and more collaborative work structures for students. Ted was diligent and thorough in his preparation, the resources he provided, and his follow-up. He always had a long-term vision for the work he did, yet he was always responsive and flexible to our needs."
-- Alan Cohen, former principal, P.S. 69, Bronx, NY, June 20, 2013
"Without question, Mr. Kesler has had a profound influence on the staff. He has provided high-level teacher development in both large and small groups and also with individuals. Teachers seek his advice as well as his assistance as they are in need of expert guidance. His background and experience with learners at all levels have translated into sensitizing the staff to the varying needs and styles of individual students, and in managing the diverse classrooms using best practice in writing instruction.
"Mr. Kesler is highly intelligent and extremely hardworking. He is viewed by the entire Hewlett School Community as a dedicated professional, whose contributions are greatly valued and respected."
-- Sandy Pensak, former principal, Hewlett Elementary School, NY, 2007
-- exit slip from participant, Hempfield School District, Lancaster, PA, June 10, 2014
"Ted’s present work with my teachers involves working (formally) with four of my educators, grades three to five. I say formally, because the work has impacted many more people through the teachers sharing of this work, and the subsequent excitement and refinement for the younger grades. This work around making the Reader’s Notebook a tool for thinking has caught fire here! As part of our Schoolwide Goals we have been approaching student to student conversation, argument and its impact on their reading and writing. Clearly, working to make text based arguments and reflections in their Reader’s Notebooks has the possibility to create a tread, or roots, or a deepening hold on understanding in all areas of content. Importantly, this work has students and teachers alike treating the notebook in a way that I don’t believe has been experienced by students since the Ralph Fletcher days of notebook keeping. This work has the potential for lifelong practice. I am simply thrilled will the effect it is having in the building."
-- Reva Gluck-Schneider, principal, P.S. 144Q, Queens, NY, February 3, 2014
"Dr. Kesler has now worked directly with almost all the professional staff and continues to bring new project initiatives to our school. Based in his extensive experience as a classroom teacher and ELA staff developer, Dr. Kesler brings an unusual balance of practical pedagogy and theoretical understandings to these projects."
-- Helene Jacob, principal, P.S. 499, Queens, NY, July 23, 2013
"The primary focus of Mr. Kesler’s work with us related to Word Study. In addition to providing professional development in a standard workshop-type setting, he also modeled lessons in classrooms with students. His model lessons received high praise from our teaching staff and I believe they helped our teachers to become better practitioners themselves. He also developed a blog to support teachers in their work over the course of the year. He answered their questions and posted additional resources to this blog regularly. This blog helped to establish a larger learning community within our district and extended our professional development to outside the school day.
"Mr. Kesler has a very strong work ethic and through my planning meetings and informal conversations with him I could tell that he makes a point of staying abreast of the best practices in literacy. His passion for his subject matter is evident."
-- Christine Diaz, Supervisor of Staff Development, Paramus, NJ School District, May 1, 2013
"P.S. 69 is a high-needs school that services poor and minority students in one of the highest poverty areas (the South Bronx) in the country. Ted knew how to work in highly effective ways with the teachers and students in our school. He held them to the highest standards, but also gained their trust and friendship. They all knew how much he cared. He guided teachers in implementing book clubs, writing workshop units of study, more comprehensive approaches to vocabulary and spelling, more rigorous teaching of non-fiction texts, interactive read-aloud, and more collaborative work structures for students. Ted was diligent and thorough in his preparation, the resources he provided, and his follow-up. He always had a long-term vision for the work he did, yet he was always responsive and flexible to our needs."
-- Alan Cohen, former principal, P.S. 69, Bronx, NY, June 20, 2013
"Without question, Mr. Kesler has had a profound influence on the staff. He has provided high-level teacher development in both large and small groups and also with individuals. Teachers seek his advice as well as his assistance as they are in need of expert guidance. His background and experience with learners at all levels have translated into sensitizing the staff to the varying needs and styles of individual students, and in managing the diverse classrooms using best practice in writing instruction.
"Mr. Kesler is highly intelligent and extremely hardworking. He is viewed by the entire Hewlett School Community as a dedicated professional, whose contributions are greatly valued and respected."
-- Sandy Pensak, former principal, Hewlett Elementary School, NY, 2007
