To end the year on a happy note, I am setting some goals for April, May and June in my own version of a Writing Teacher's Happiness Project. What would you work on to end your year in a happy way?
Category: organization
A Class Hub To The Rescue!
A class hub can make all the difference for digital writing and learning!
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A Game Plan for Writing Workshop Transitions
Have you ever visited a colleague's classroom or watched a video of a lesson and wondered, "How are those kids so perfect? How do they seem to know exactly what to do, the moment the teacher suggests it?" Just like in sports, practice makes perfect. A sports coach puts time and effort into devising game… Continue reading A Game Plan for Writing Workshop Transitions
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What do I do with all of my students’ writing?
Are you feeling inundated with paper in your writing workshop? Here are some quick tips to help you help your students organize their writing so that their desks and writing folders are less cluttered.
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Crafting Nonfiction: Conducting Research and Organizing Information
Melissa Stewart, award-winning author of more than 150 nonfiction books for children, steps into our Author's Spotlight today. In her post, she shares about the chunk and check process, which will help your students conduct research.
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Throwback Week: How To Read A Unit of Study
Learn some tricks for reading the Units of Study, whether you're new to the units or have been using them for many years.
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Sharpen Your Workshop Routines: Writing Centers to Organize All Your Materials
Every year, around this time, I start having dreams about setting up my classroom. In the classroom of my dreams, I'm moving around small circular tables, unfurling a brand new rug for the meeting area (the kind with the squares in bright colors), setting up a very large classroom library, and putting labels and color… Continue reading Sharpen Your Workshop Routines: Writing Centers to Organize All Your Materials
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Sharpen Your Workshop Routines: 5 Secrets to Great Meeting Areas
Are you looking to make the most out of your classroom's meeting area? Find out how to create and maintain a meeting area that will function as the focal point of your writing workshop.
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How To Read A Unit of Study
As the school year comes to a close, many of the schools I work with are launching into a week or so of in-service, summer institutes, and other professional development. It's "curriculum season" in many places around the country. For many writing teachers, that means diving into the Units of Study for Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing by Lucy… Continue reading How To Read A Unit of Study
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Tailoring Our Teaching: No Need to Wing It If You’ve Got Great Conferring Notes
Lucy Calkins, author of many books on teaching writing, often says that conferring is the heart of writing workshop. I once heard her say to a group of graduate students that she wished we called it “conferring workshop.” This way it would be clearer to everybody that it is the conferences that really make the… Continue reading Tailoring Our Teaching: No Need to Wing It If You’ve Got Great Conferring Notes
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Getting the Room Ready
I miss having a classroom of my own at this time of the year. There's something about putting up fadeless paper and borders, getting supplies ready, preparing the meeting area, and labeling books with students' names that I truly miss. Even though I'm fortunate to be working with a group of K-5 teachers this-coming week,… Continue reading Getting the Room Ready
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Highlights from the Week
I have been in a lot of different writing workshops lately. Just this week I've been in 13 writing workshops and have met with 13 different teachers in either reflective practice meetings or planning meetings. Therefore, I have SO MUCH I want to record. Which leads me to my current dilemma: what do I not… Continue reading Highlights from the Week
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 