TWT Winter Recess and Holiday Wishes

It is mid December and we are feeling all the feels: joyful, stressed, stretched, exhausted, nostalgic, reflective, hopeful. Here at Two Writing Teachers, we are pausing to take a blogging break from now until December 31. We are looking forward to spending the last few days of 2019 with our students, our friends and colleagues and our families. We are baking, wrapping, reading, writing, thinking, singing, resting, and preparing. We thank you for understanding our need to take a brief break at this time of the year.

We wouldn’t leave you, though, without some great resources to discover or rediscover and some excitement for 2020!

OLW

On January 1st, Kelsey will kick off our One Little Word series for 2020 with a link to each co-author’s personal blogs and their choices for their 2020 OLW. Have you thought about your OLW for the new year? Find some inspiration from our previous OLW choices.

Blog Series

Mark your 2020 calendar for our February Blog Series titled, Expand the Possibilities of the Genres You Teach, which will begin on Sunday, February 2, 2020.

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
February 2018: Beyond the Fundamentals of Writing Workshop
May 2018: Looking Back and Moving Forward
August 2018: Dreaming Big for This Year’s Writing Workshop
November 2018: Notebooks as a Writer’s Tool
February 2019: Teaching Writing With a Social Justice Lens
May 2019: Strengthening Professional Learning
August 2019: Nurturing Independence From the Start
November 2019: Reaching Your Writers

Tuesday SOL

Check in on Tuesdays as I 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 Slice of Life Story Challenge

2020 marks the 13th 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

Throughout December, some of our “greatest hits” will be posted on our Facebook page. Be sure to like the page to read previous posts that co-authors selected to be highlighted during this month.