Going back to school is an exciting time. A new school year gives us a chance to dream, to reconnect with our ideals, and to renew our commitment to ourselves and our students.
Category: back to school
Creating Community: Our Favorite Things
One of my favorite things about writing workshop is building a strong community of learners. Today's post highlights some of my favorite ways to create community in my third grade class. How do you define community? How do you build community in your writing workshop? Be sure to leave a comment for the chance to win the giveaway!
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Putting Social Emotional Learning in All We Do: Reflections and Shifts Moving Forward
The research is pretty detailed and consistent that the relationship between teacher and student matters a great deal. It affects their sense of belonging, their relationships with peers, and affects their learning.
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A Letter to Families as we Launch Remote Writing Workshop
As I considered what to write this week, I decided to share a piece I was crafting for back to school, as an instructional coach/remote kindergarten teacher this year. The process helped me to focus on what families might need, as they experience writing workshop in new ways (i.e. at their kitchen tables).
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Writing Together in Remote Spaces
One of the many changes brought about by the pandemic, whether we are returning to school in-person or remotely, is the ability to gather together in close proximity to learn and write together. I have been thinking a lot about this: How might we as teachers replicate or create the emotionally safe space normally held by a warm, close classroom in a digital space?
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Write the Moments: Documenting a Most Unusual School Year
If ever there were a moment in education to pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it in our writing, I wager it's now. This is the season of school evolving and changing. This is the back to school season with words we never imagined before- sneeze guards, Zoom breakouts, synchronous and asynchronous, mask breaks, temperature checks, distance learning, hybrid model. What we always knew is no longer, for the most part. What remains? How do we teach well in a COVID-19 world? What matters? What doesn't? This year, we need to write the moments.
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Seen, Valued, Heard: Poetry to Establish Community
The 2020-2021 school year will likely be different than any other school year we’ve ever known. While last year ended with emergency remote learning in most places due to COVID-19, the year began like all others before. We had the opportunity to get to know our students deeply and establish classroom communities. I teach on… Continue reading Seen, Valued, Heard: Poetry to Establish Community
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Back to School Themes and Reflections
What are the themes that you come back to each school year? Today I explore the topics that I come back to each new year and share links from previous posts. Please share your ideas in the comments!
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One Topic, Different Genres: Many Possibilities!
Do students realize all the different ways they can write about the same topic? In this post, I share how I wrote about "roller coasters" in different genres to model for my students the many possibilities!
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Launching Writing Workshop with Passion and Purpose
What are your hopes for your writers this year and how will you start the year with those hopes in mind? Read on to see my plans for starting writing workshop with passion and purpose.
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Seven Realities of Launching Workshop in Kindergarten
This week, I welcome Katie Bristol as a guest blogger. Katie teaches kindergarten in Simsbury, CT, and she is my go-to person whenever I have a question about the youngest members of our school community. While her post may seem specific to kindergarten, her insights are important to educators who work in all grades. Follow Katie on twitter @bristol_katie.
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Write Them Back!
Do you receive letters from your students at the start of the year? Do you write them back? In what ways do you get to know new students? How do you keep track of the information and use it as a guide for helping your writers grow?
