collaborative planning · end of year reflection · small group

Keep Writers Growing (An End-of-Year Pep Talk)

Wondering how to use the final weeks of school to keep your writers growing? Just a few simple steps can help you maximize your end-of-year small group teaching!

collaboration · collaborative planning · Stronger Together: Involving Other Professionals in Your Workshop Blog Series

Teacher Teams: Stronger Together Blog Series

Peer observation is just one of the many ways teacher teams can work together to enhance student experiences. Everyone--even the host--walks away a better teacher.

collaborative planning · curriculum planning · month-long planning · units of study

Three Steps to Prioritizing Your Writing Instruction During the Pandemic

Whether you are fortunate enough to have a structure to collaborate with others on your grade-level team, or if you are planning solo here are three steps you can take.

coaching · collaborative planning · curriculum planning · june planning · literacy coaches · plan · summer vacation

Literacy Coaches: Thinking Ahead to May & June — Already?!

Here are three things I'm working on, right now, in the first week of February.

audience · authentic writing · coaching · collaborative planning · content-area writing · engagement · Innovators · motivation · student engagement · writing workshop

Thinking Big About Writing

The writing work in our building is transforming, and it is exciting to be a part of the change, to witness the impact on kids as we make our workshops increasingly authentic and compelling. We are constantly reflecting on what’s working—what’s leading to measurable shifts in how we plan for writing (and how kids experience writing)—as well as where we might be getting stuck: places there is genuine motivation to transform the task, and yet, our best intentions are still missing the mark in some significant way.

collaborative planning · middle school · observations

Nurturing a Sense of Optimism Through Vertical Visits

Although this time of year predictably proves to be extremely busy, creatively scheduling a little bit of time to visit at least some of your next-year's writers can pay valuable dividends.

charts · collaboration · collaborative planning · DIY Literacy · writing workshop

A Writing Workshop Learning Walk

As much as I try to flatten the walls of my classroom using technology, the truth is there are still walls. It is me and 25 third graders, and most recently, a fabulous student teacher. Still, the walls are there and often I don't get to see other teachers in action. Last month, I had the opportunity to remedy that problem for a day.

classroom environment · collaboration · collaborative planning · communication · PD Possibilities Series

Using Colleagues to Create Your Own Professional Development: PD Possibilities Series

My husband is an eighth grade ELA teacher. We often find ourselves having conversations about our day. One night he was mentioning he had to step into a colleagues room for a few minutes and he noticed some really innovative engagement techniques. He was immediately thinking about how he might try this with his students.… Continue reading Using Colleagues to Create Your Own Professional Development: PD Possibilities Series

collaborative planning · common core · curriculum planning · lucy calkins · tcrwp · units of study

New Units of Study

I purchased the original Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3 - 5 when they were published in 2006. In the early days, those books were like a Bible to me. I used them to help me plan the scope and sequence of many of the units of study I taught. When I moved… Continue reading New Units of Study

article · collaboration · collaborative planning · writing workshop

How much collaboration is too much?

There were a few times when I sat back at the end of a day of teaching and thought I don't know if I'd want to be a student in my own classroom.  The reason for this horrible realization?  There was just too much group work going on, especially in mathematics.  I often felt as… Continue reading How much collaboration is too much?

collaborative planning · Read Aloud

Planning Read Alouds that Support the Workshop Model

lock·step noun, often attributive \ˈläk-ËŒstep\ Definition of LOCKSTEP 1: a mode of marching in step by a body of persons going one after another as closely as possible 2: a standard method or procedure that is mindlessly adhered to or that minimizes individuality — in lockstep : in perfect or rigid often mindless conformity or… Continue reading Planning Read Alouds that Support the Workshop Model