assessment · equity · feedback · formative assessment · inquiry · reflective practice

Let’s Get Curious! Using Appreciative Inquiry in the Writing Classroom

Students are our north stars. When we get to know students (academically and beyond), we can more clearly see and honor who they are and what they know. Appreciative inquiry enables us to capitalize on the abundant assets already present.

agency · community · feedback · goals · management · routines

How do we Know When our Workshops are Working?

Launching a writing workshop is hard work. Intentional work. What are those “look fors” that let us know that our workshops are gelling? That community is being built, routines are being established, and writing work is happening?

feedback · note-taking · precise language · Resetting Our Workshop Practices Blog Series

Interrogating Our Feedback: Resetting Our Workshop Practices

As I get ready to head back into my classroom, I am thinking about my feedback and the intention vs. outcome.

authentic assessment · compliment · conferences · conferring · feedback · Resetting Our Workshop Practices Blog Series

Sharing Anecdotal Notes To Shift From Mine To Ours: Resetting Our Workshop Practices

How can we build even more self-efficacy with our student writers? A few simple moves can transform your anecdotal notes and empower you

agency · feedback · Reflections and Shifts As We Move Forward Blog Series

Leveraging Technology to Amp up Feedback for Writers: Reflections and Shifts as we Move Forward

In this topsy-turvy year, when I was not expecting to teach a remote kindergarten class, I was also not expecting to discover strategies for upping my feedback game with writers—strategies that I plan to continue using once the world has righted itself and workshop is in-person again.

feedback · kindergarten · parent involvement · remote instruction · remote learning

Five Tips for Parents and Caregivers for Offering Feedback to Writers

How can I be clear about aligning what families hear me teaching with what their children are doing with the feedback both they and I offer kids along the way?

agency · feedback · kindergarten

Joy and Agency: An Origin Story

What are the ways I can let writers know that I SEE them, that I understand and appreciate all that they are bringing to the page and the process? How might my feedback serve as a mirror, reflecting back to writers a clear image of who they are, of what is important to them, of evidence of their growth?

conventions · editing · feedback · mistakes · writing workshop

Spinach in a Writer’s Teeth: To Point it out, or not to Point it Out?

When this scenario happened to me (years ago), it did give me pause. As a teacher of writers, I am not the conventions police—I have always been the kind of writer who values content over conventions in the workshop. This is not to say I do not teach conventions or have high expectations for their use. However, it would be fair to say that this particular situation challenged me to think about grammar, punctuation, and spelling differently—shifting the way I approached conventions in the classroom going forward.

assessment · authentic assessment · data · feedback · formative assessment · giveaway · goals · growth mindset · high school · middle school · monitoring student learning · peer conferring · personalization · reading-writing connections · record keeping · reflective practice · Sarah M. Zerwin · self-assessment · standards · student engagement · Student ownership · writing workshop

Point-Less by Sarah M. Zerwin: A Review and Giveaway

Sarah Zerwin is workshop to her core, and she has found ways to ensure that her assessment practices are not sending conflicting messages to kids. Point-Less will challenge readers to reflect and inspire them to advocate for change.

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.

Belief Statements · choice · feedback · middle school

Beliefs Guide Actions

Right now, we really do not know how school will look in the coming year.  Will it be virtual?  Will it be physical? Will it be a hybrid model?  Who knows?  But if we agree that our beliefs are implicit, and that they guide our intentional actions, then perhaps not only reading this post but also examining and identifying your own will help you be the best you can be... whatever the circumstances you find yourself in next year.