Author: Amy Ellerman

Reader, writer, and instructional coach. Always thinking. Collaborating to innovate the learning experience for students and educators.
How do we Know When our Workshops are Working?
agency · community · feedback · goals · management · routines

How do we Know When our Workshops are Working?

Amy Ellerman4 Comments

Launching a writing workshop is hard work. Intentional work. What are those “look fors” that let us know that our workshops are gelling? That community is being built, routines are being established, and writing work is happening?

When Management Issues in the Workshop are the Result of Mixed Messaging
agency · management · procedures · reflective practice · writing workshop routines

When Management Issues in the Workshop are the Result of Mixed Messaging

Amy Ellerman6 Comments

The beginning of the school year is perfect timing for the classic cautionary tale, an anecdote shared with the intention of saving others a difficulty I created for myself. My purpose is to both teach and entertain, as I humbly recount the thing I should not have done (and will be mindful not to do again).

Tumbling Toward Open Space in a Workshop
agency · reflective practice · writing workshop

Tumbling Toward Open Space in a Workshop

Amy Ellerman2 Comments

These tumbleweeds feel like a metaphor for the writers in our workshops: the times they dance freely across the landscape and the times they get stuck. As a teacher of writers, it’s prompting me to step back and reflect on those stuck places. I hope to offer you a similar moment of reflection on the tumbleweed-jams that might be forming in your own workshop(s).

Time for a Shift
reflective practice · writing workshop

Time for a Shift

Amy Ellerman16 Comments

Writing workshop is powerful because it is a consistent investment of time for writers to work with intention at their craft. It is sacred space. As teachers of workshop, we are intentional about teaching writers something every day. This is how growth happens—day by day over weeks and months and years.