“Lift the ball with your right hand, and pretend your right knee is tied to your right elbow.” Placing the orange ball uncertainly in my right hand, I glanced over at Mr. Brown, my new basketball coach. Fixing his gaze squarely upon me, he added, “You can do this.” It was my 8th grade year,… Continue reading Conferring: Writing Workshop Fundamentals
Author: Lanny Ball
For more than 29 years, Lanny has taught, coached, presented, staff developed, and consulted within the exciting and enigmatic world of literacy. With unyielding passion and belief in the possibility of workshop teaching, Lanny has worked to support students, teachers, and school administrators around the country in outgrowing themselves as both writers and readers. Working first as a classroom teacher, then as a coach and TCRWP Staff Developer, Lanny is now a literacy specialist, working and living in the great state of Connecticut. Outside of literacy, he enjoys raising his three ambitious young daughters with his wife, and playing the piano. Find him on this blog, as well as on Twitter @LannyBall. Lanny is also a former co-author of a blog dedicated to supporting writing teachers and coaches that maintain classroom writing workshops, twowritingteachers.org.
Blog Series: Fundamentals of Writing Workshop
Growing up as a young person, I devoted a great deal of time to playing sports. Now, I didn't participate in a lot of different sports -- I played primarily soccer, with short stints in both basketball and tennis -- but these sports I chose to participate in consumed a great deal of time and… Continue reading Blog Series: Fundamentals of Writing Workshop
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Building a Community of Writers: Creating the Emotional Space
Building a community of writers is likely a goal for all writing workshop teachers. But what are some ways to be intentional about bringing such a goal to fruition?
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Writing Celebrations…But Why?
With all the pressures imposed by a segmented, unforgiving middle school schedule, why make time for writing celebrations? Are they really that important? Yes!
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Connecting Through Story
"Story is the basic unit of human understanding." - Drew Dudley, Day One Leadership. We have been learning through story for thousands of years. Our innate fascination for wanting to know what happens is an undeniable trait of humanity. Yet, in spite of what we know about story as a fundamental building block for learning,… Continue reading Connecting Through Story
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SOL Tuesday
It's Tuesday...Consider allowing nature to be your inspiration this week. Write, share, give feedback to other writers!
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SOL Tuesday
It's Slice of Life Tuesday...come share a slice. We'd love to have you write, share, and give feedback to other writers!
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SOL Tuesday
It's Slice of Life Tuesday! Those of you feeling withdrawals from the March Slice of Life Story Challenge, breathe a sigh of relief. Come one, come all, come slice...
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Changing Tack: Learning from a Writing Conference
It's great to be prepared when we are conferring with our writers. However, being 'prepared' and being 'present' are not the same thing...
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Showing Not Telling: Demonstrations Matter
We've all likely taught 'show, don't tell' lessons in our narrative units. But showing not telling can have instructional meaning, as well...
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CLASSROOM SOLSC: DAY 23 OF 31
This is your students' 23rd day of continuous writing. Whoo hoo! If you’re sharing your own slice of life stories, please head over to the Adult Slice of Life Story Challenge.
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CLASSROOM SOLSC FOR STUDENTS: DAY 22 OF 31
Welcome back to the Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge for Students! It is day 22 of 31. Here is where you post your link for your students' slice of life posts.
