community · writing workshop

Wordless Slides: Another Way To Get To Know Students

No matter where or how the year begins for classrooms, getting to know students is one of the most important parts of teaching. Wordless slides worked great!

community · conferring · COVID-19 · feedback · remote learning · Seen, Valued, Heard: Writing to Establish Community Blog Series

Seen, Valued, Heard: Providing Feedback AFTER Establishing Community

If your fall instruction plan includes any kind of virtual teaching, then building and maintaining relationships will be more crucial than ever. In order to engage and motivate students, educators must work to genuinely connect with students before focusing on academics.

community · notebooks · reading-writing connections · Seen, Valued, Heard: Writing to Establish Community Blog Series · shared writing · writer's notebook · writing about reading · writing workshop

Seen, Valued, Heard: Leveraging Shared Writing to Build Community

In my experience, many young writers struggle to use a writer’s notebook as a tool. They’re excited to have a notebook but unclear about what to “do” in there. Shared writing can be a powerful way to teach writers how to generate ideas for writing and to get themselves started, based on the books we are reading and discussing as a community.

community · COVID-19 · partnerships · Seen, Valued, Heard: Writing to Establish Community Blog Series

Seen, Valued, Heard: Writing Partnerships to Establish Community

In our blog series this week, the team at Two Writing Teachers hopes to support you in the common purpose of building community in your classrooms, however those classrooms may look this year. One important building block of community is helping kids feel connected through partnerships. Read on for ideas on this important topic . . .

community · digital writing · Seen, Valued, Heard: Writing to Establish Community Blog Series

Seen, Valued, Heard: Name Studies to Establish Community

There is importance in a name. Our names are entry ways into our identities and they can have great impact in cultivating classroom communities where students can thrive and grow.

Belief Statements · community · current events · writing process

The Unpredictability of a Writer’s Process

Writing has been a struggle for several weeks now. Today I take you through my process to get where I am now and the journey I intend to continue.

community · EAL

Widening the Classroom Community to Include Families

In the last two months, our world has required us to live in the space of continuous new experiences. All of us, but especially the world of education, have taken a hard and immediate shift. It would be blind denial to say it has been easy, but this past week has taken me by surprise.

community · sharing

Be a Rainbow in Someone Else’s Cloud Right Now

Maya Angelou said, "Prepare yourself, so that you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud." I'm working on it. I hope you'll join me.

classroom environment · community · COVID-19

Building a New Community

How are you finding ways to connect and bring a community of learners together?

back to school · community · digital writing · family · homework · parent involvement · writing workshop

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!

community · illustrations · illustrators · poetry · writer's notebook

Food Writing, Community Building, and a Book Giveaway

Writing workshop thrives when a community of children come together as writers who know each other. The first six weeks of school is when we build community. Here's one way to build relationships and encourage kids to write about one of their favorite things simultaneously. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Eric Carle and Friends' newest book, What's Your Favorite Food?

community · digital tools · digital writing · low-stakes · notebooks · photograph · ralph fletcher · writer identity · writer's notebook

(Writing) Life Imitates Art: Finding Inspiration in Ralph Fletcher’s Instagram

The creative lives we maintain outside of writing fill us up as humans with stories to tell. When we bring this life into the writing workshop, it builds community, and it lays the foundation for lifelong writers who have strategies for sustaining their own writing lives.