Purposeful Teaching Shares, Lasting Impact

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes (712 words)
Primary Audience: Teachers, coaches, administration

Planning writing lessons with teachers always comes down to a few essentials: clarifying teaching points, choosing methods that fit, and anticipating what students will need in conferences. Together, we walk through all four components of the minilesson, weighing what may or may not work for their students.

Teachers appreciate this thinking process—newer teachers soak in every detail, while those with more experience seek fresh ideas to strengthen each part. Lately, the teaching share has become the ‘hot topic’ across several grade levels.

A Backstory

For a long time, I was the teacher who often skipped the teaching share at the end of writing workshop. Reading posts like Lanny Hall’s made me realize I needed to do better. I knew well-structured systems worked for me, so I tried timers and concrete plans, but it wasn’t until I began planning shares through themes that I saw real results—not only in the consistency I achieved, but also in how the themes I chose impacted students’ way of seeing their work.

The themes were: self-assessment, reflection, and communication.

• We started the week with a purpose, ending a writing session with a quick check: What did I do today? What would I like to do tomorrow?
• Wednesdays were the perfect time to meet with partners and think aloud: What am I trying to do? How? Got any feedback for me? 
• On Fridays, we brought it all together with reflection: What went well? What do I still want to work on?

The flow worked well each time, and students became more fluent in speaking about their process.

As a Coach

I began sharing that structure for teaching shares, and many teachers were eager to try it. Within weeks, some noticed improvement in how their students interacted in conferences. When teachers tell me, “I can’t wait to hear all my students talk about their writing with such precision,” my response is, “Give them time, but also give them consistency.”

The teaching share doesn’t have to be elaborate—it just needs to be actionable. Predictability and purpose matter most. Here’s how:

• Choose the three days that will be about those three skills: self-assessment, communication, and reflection.
• Support students with questions to push their thinking forward:
  • What minilesson helped you the most this week?
  • Where in your writing have you tried one of our teaching points?
  • What felt challenging this week? What did you try to do to problem-solve?
  • What felt easy? How would you teach that to another writer?
  • Which mentor text helped you this week? How?
• Model the mindset and make it visible throughout the writing process. Help students see that reflection is not an afterthought—it’s what drives the process.
• Make connections across subjects. Those three themes are actual skills students can use beyond the writing workshop.

The Details

Each of the three themes offers a way to strengthen the teaching share. When teachers make them a regular part of their routine, students begin to internalize the habits of writers.

1. Self-assessment: Students sit through many minilessons within a unit, and at times, they may need concrete ways to connect the purpose of all those teaching points. The most effective tool for this is the student checklist. Ending sessions with the checklist helps students view it as a guidepost and supports them in using that language when assessing their writing.
   
2. Communication: Talking about writing does not come naturally; we need to teach students how to transition from talking about their topic to discussing their process. It’s like a muscle that requires constant exercise—through independent rehearsal, in conference with teachers, and partner talk. Communication fuels reflection.
   
3. Reflection: It’s not an ending, it’s the start of what comes next. Writers pause to consider what they’ve done, how they’ve done it, and where they’re headed. However, reflection is abstract—it requires concrete ingredients, such as the language of checklists and feedback from partners. After we reflect, we make a plan.

One Final Thought

The teaching share may take only a few minutes, but its impact can be lasting. When we end writing workshops with self-assessment, communication, and reflection, we model that writing is “never done.” Writing is the process of noticing, trying, and refining. A revision mindset grows stronger when reflection becomes a predictable part of our weekly routine.