preschool · reflections

Reflections on a Year of Writing in Pre-K: Straight From the Classroom

Whether you've been teaching writing for decades or you're just completing your first year, there are always so many questions to ask oneself when reflecting upon the school year.

Coach-to-Coach · reflections

A Letter to a New Writing Teacher

As summer ends and the 2023-2024 school year begins, I am welcoming many new teachers to our district. After meeting with them for a short time today, there are three major messages that I hope the new teachers in my district heard and internalized.

celebration · challenges · checklists · conventions · goals · grammar · gratitude · reflections

Quick & Fun Lesson Closures? Yes, Please!

Embrace the thrill of trying something new. Know that doing so doesn't require abundant time, energy, or preparation. Small shifts have a real impact on classroom energy, enthusiasm, and engagement. How do you add variety, joy, and/or playfulness to lesson closings?

agency · Amping up Agency Blog Series · conferring · reflections · Reflective Practice · sharing · small group

The Language to Develop Agency: Amping Up Agency Blog Series

Teachers can build and increase students’ agency by using specific phrases at when conferring, leading small groups, or holding reflection/share sessions at the end of a workshop.

assessment · process · reflections · writing process · writing workshop

Three Ways to Exalt Process for Young Writers

My litmus test for the work we do in the classroom pivots on an understanding that collecting one's own ideas and practicing ways to communicate them will serve students outside classroom walls. And it is with that framing in mind - with children reflecting on their journeys, in carefully selecting the language I use, and in sharing feedback on growth as opposed to the final alone- that I hope to continually communicate the importance of process over product. 

reflections · Reflective Practice · writing workshop

Teaching Writers to Reflect + Giveaway

For the past two weeks, I've been immersing myself in some reflection. This book, TEACHING WRITERS TO REFLECT, has been an excellent tool as I pass along reflective practices to my students.

feedback · reflections · rubric · writing · writing workshop

Reimagining Writing Assessment: A Reflection + Giveaway

In the opening pages of Maja Wilson's book, REIMAGINING WRITING ASSESSMENT, Thomas Newkirk gets the ball rolling with this statement, "Rubrics regularly fail to offer help to a writer because they focus on what writing has (features) not what writing does (effect)." Today I'm sharing my reflections as well as offering a giveaway to one lucky reader.