When you think about the writing joy that lies ahead this year, are you spending your time planning, preparing, or anticipating?
Category: preparation
Changing Tack: Learning from a Writing Conference
It's great to be prepared when we are conferring with our writers. However, being 'prepared' and being 'present' are not the same thing...
Work Smarter: How To Wrap Up A Unit of Study
This week my colleagues and I are writing posts that we hope will make your life a little easier. We’re sharing some ways to work smarter, not harder.
Sharing the Work: Assigning Teacher Leaders for Unit Planning
There is an adage: if the teacher is working too hard, the students aren't working hard enough. There are many cases where this is true: in a writing conference when the teacher is doing all of the talking, during the revision process when a student is following a teacher's notated directions, in a lesson where the… Continue reading Sharing the Work: Assigning Teacher Leaders for Unit Planning
Minilessons: It’s All About the Link
It's all about the link. Make sure your minilessons link to ongoing work. Link to making choices. Link to all the other minilessons. Link to the charts and resources in the room. Most of all link your minilesson always to problem solving and independence.
Literacy Gifts
Jen, Sarah, and Ruth gave me some fantastic ideas about ways to make the launch of writer's notebooks and using the classroom library more exciting for children in September. I thought their ideas were brilliant and will be doing both this-coming school year. Classroom Library Semi-organize the books in the classroom library before the start… Continue reading Literacy Gifts
WE DID IT!!!
TWT on Two Computers at Courthouse Coffee Originally uploaded by teachergal As you know, Ruth and I got together to work on our presentation for NCTE this past week. Now that I'm back home, I'm marveling at the fact that we got SOOOOO much accomplished. We started out at Courthouse Coffee on Wednesday Morning with… Continue reading WE DID IT!!!
getting organized for next year
Conferring Notebook Tabs Originally uploaded by teachergal Anyone who puts up next year's bulletin boards before the school year ends will feel at-home when reading this post since that's what I do since I don't like waiting to do everything in late August. Hence, today I also began working on my writing conference notebook. I… Continue reading getting organized for next year