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.

curriculum planning · june planning · lesson plans · month-long planning · plan · plan book

Three Ideas for Planning a Multiage Curriculum Calendar for Writing Workshop

In this post, I'll share three things I've learned from my own school district, where we have many multiage classrooms.

COVID-19 · creativity · curriculum planning · differentiation · Distance Learning · writing workshop

Thoughts on a Way Forward: An Interview with Cornelius Minor

When the COVID-19 crisis hit, probably like many of us, I sought out voices of hope. For me personally, I knew one of those voices would be Cornelius Minor. I knew him to be the kind of teacher with the capacity to help us all see things in a new way during this unfamiliar period of virtual teaching.  Fortunately,  I was able to reach him by text.  We sat down recently on a Zoom call to discuss his views on teaching remotely, his book, and a way forward.

COVID-19 · curriculum planning · minilesson

Some Perspectives for Pandemic Teaching & Learning

Recently, researcher and professor John Hattie released a paper regarding his research-based perspectives on what truly matters for education (and what does not) during this time of global pandemic. Thus, when I ran across his latest thinking, I became eager to share some of it with you here...

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.

curriculum planning · process · writing workshop

Three Ways To Increase Instructional Clarity

Teaching is an art, and sometimes tweaks don't work as we hope or envision. However, I hope that these three ideas do increase the clarity of instruction in ways that help all students learn to be independent confident writers.

back to school · choice · classroom environment · community · curriculum planning · feedback · independent writing · minilesson · routines · units of study

Our Favorite “Back-to-School” Posts

Whether you're already back in school or returning in the next two weeks, I've rounded up some of our team's best blog posts that will help you launch & sustain writing workshop in 2018-19.

audience · authentic writing · creativity · curriculum planning · digital writing · George Couros · Innovators · writing workshop

Make Writing Better. Start With The Writer.

Think about the writer and making the writer better. What are the needs of a writer? What opportunities does technology offer to make the writer better?

creativity · curriculum · curriculum planning · informational writing · research · writing workshop

No More Cookie-Cutter Teaching

As educators, we need to take ownership of our teaching.  If you think your tried and true lessons are lackluster, change them.  Start with looking at your students and asking yourself, what do my students need? What are their strengths? Next, look at the VERBS in your standards. Precisely what is it your students need to master in this unit?  Finally, embrace the art of teaching, follow their lead.