A Winter Recess

My great-grandmother was a spitfire of a lady. She had her quirks, but she also had her sentiments. I always remember, every card I ever received from her was signed, Love and best wishes. I thought that was perhaps the sweetest and most heartfelt way to close a note or letter. I remember watching her sign cards for others with a shaky hand and determination in her eyes. Maybe sending off a year with the same message is a nice close as well. I’m looking forward to a fresh start. It always feels good to have a transition that feels like it brings new life with it. So, to 2017, I say “love and best wishes,” and from all of us at Two Writing Teachers we wish you a wonderful holiday season and new year.

But don’t worry, even though there won’t be any new posts from now until Monday, January 1st there is plenty to read from our archives as well as so much to look forward to in 2018 when we return!

OLW

Melanie will kick off our One Little Word series for 2018 this year. We hope you will be thinking about your OLW and maybe find inspiration from our previous OLW choices. Meet back here in January to see the big reveals throughout the first week of the month as we all share what word we’ve each chosen to live by for 2018.

Blog Series

Mark your 2018 calendar for our February Blog Series titled, Beyond the Fundamentals of Writing Workshop which will start on Monday, February 5th, 2018. If you are looking for posts from any previous blog series check out the list below!

• November 2013: Tailoring Our Teaching
• February 2014: Writing About Reading
• May 2014: Independent Writing,
• August 2014: Sharpen Your Workshop Routines
• November 2014: Work Smarter, Not Harder
• February 2015: Aim Higher: Outgrow Old Goals and Set New Ones
• May 2015: Conferring Toolkits
• August 2015: Creating Classroom Environments to Launch the School Year
• November 2015: Diving Into Information Writing
• February 2016: Discovering the Writer’s Life
• May 2016: Teaching Writing with Mentor Texts
• August 2016: Starting with What Matters Most
• November 2016: Assessment Strengthens Writers 
• February 2017: Authentic Purposes for Writing 
• May 2017: Keep Learning Going Throughout the Summer 
• August 2017: Writing Workshop Fundamentals
• November 2017: Solving Predictable Problems

Tuesday SOL

Check in on Tuesdays as Melanie will continue to host our weekly call for Slice of Life Stories through the month.  If you have been thinking about joining, winter break is a great time to share your first Slice of Life Story.  Simply write your story on your personal blog, share the URL on Tuesday in our comment section, and leave at least three comments for other bloggers.

March SOLSC, 2018

2018 marks the 11th anniversary of the Slice of Life Story Challenge and we look forward to sharing more about this exciting time here on Two Writing Teachers when we commit to writing daily for thirty-one days!

Social Media

• Follow us on Twitter.  Many of us will be learning and tweeting over the winter break.
  • Beth  @BethMooreSchool
  • Betsy  @Betsy_Writes
  • Deb  @Deb_Frazier
  • Kathleen  @MrsSokolowski 
  • Lanny @LannyBall
  • Melanie @melaniemeehan
  • Stacey  @sshubitz
• Follow us on Pinterest and Facebook

 Rest, relax, and enjoy time with your loved ones!

While you do, collect story ideas for future Slice of Life ideas.