A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.
A six to eight-week writing unit may not be the equivalent of running a marathon, although some may beg to differ this year, but it still requires some creativity for strong and energetic finishes. As I work with several teachers who are in the final third of their information writing units across a variety of grades, here are a few ideas for maintaining energy.
Jennifer Serravallo’s newest book, which focuses on small-group instruction, is a text that explains the fundamentals of small-group work and then provides teachers with support for implementing a variety of small groups that will help students grow as writers.
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.
When any task involves many skills, there are a lot of places for a metaphorical bump in a straw. When we break the task down, the final product involves many potential downfalls!
Where are the places your writers find themselves stuck? Identifying our writers’ sticky spots can help us determine entry points for writers to pull themselves out of being stuck and instead strive!
Learning targets, Post-Its, and I Can statements live in classrooms everywhere. Consider building those together through questions and prompts!
Do your writers know how strategies can help them reach their destination? Better yet, do they know where they are going?
As teachers, how might we reflect on our own practice in a way that could make a difference for our students next year? Here are a few lenses for setting some goals…
As we approach the end of the year, it could be a great time to challenge students to think about who they are as learners, what helps them hold on to new concepts, and how they do their best work. That being said, this knowledge could empower students at any point in the year.
Having and stating goals takes courage, but this practice also leads to higher levels of learning and achievement.
It could be said that what sets a writing workshop apart from other approaches to teaching writing is a focus on empowerment. Here are a few ways to empower writers when it comes to mentor texts…
Potentially, one of the most impactful opportunities we have for making a lasting difference on our students as writers is when we pull up next to them and confer with them. It’s SO worth spending some time reflecting, setting goals, and developing tools and strategies for the conferring work we do as teachers.
The more we show learners what the work looks like at different levels and the reasons for that level, the better they are able to self-assess, set goals, and improve.
I am a list person. I have lists by my computer, by my bed, in the kitchen, in my car console– And I love crossing things off my lists. One … Continue Reading Writing Checklists: Tools for Independence and Goal-Setting
The fact is, just like athletes that show up to the first day of practice, writers bring different skill sets. Some arrive to middle school not knowing where to put a period, while others already know how paint vivid pictures with words that knock our socks off. How do we plan for such a wide variety of writers?
Celebrating differences among our writers can sometimes be difficult for teachers of writing. But by expecting and planning for differences, we can set our students on trajectories more matched to who they are as writers. Here are a few ideas…
Once we teach students about goals and the importance of them in our lives, we can use the accompanying language in all aspects of their, and our own, learning.
Asking my students to set their own goals creates one more opportunity for each of them to be in charge of their learning and reflect on their growth as a writer.
As I looked ahead and began to attempt to set goals for the upcoming school year I realized I needed a plan. What is your summer learning plan?
Do you need help sustaining a writing habit? Take a lesson from Jerry Seinfeld & “don’t break the chain.”
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 