Stacey and I are excited to share that we have signed a contract with Stenhouse Publishers to write our first book! The working title of the book is Writing 180 and is inspired by you, the readers of Two Writing Teachers.  The main gist of the book is we have defined six essential areas of Writing… Continue reading Big News!

Mark Overmeyer, author of When Writing Workshop Isn't Working (Stenhouse, 2005) and What Student Writing Teaches Us (Stenhouse, 2009) has been on tour through the blog world.  Mark, who wrote both books in small 15 - 30 minutes chunks of time over many months, joins us today for his last stop.  I'm sure he has picked… Continue reading Welcome Mark Overmeyer!

Link your Memoir Monday posts here.

Mark Overmeyer's new book is available early for your reading pleasure!  Just click here to go to the Stenhouse link for full access to the book, as well as a cool writing challenge (complete with a prize). However, the really rockin' part of it all is that Mark is "on tour."  He's making appearances around… Continue reading What are your questions about assessment?

I'd like to send a big thank you to all those who attended my session today at the All-Write Summer Institute.  I'd love to hear the essential area that you are planning to focus on in the 2009 - 2010 school year -- just leave a comment to this post.  For more information on the topic of today's… Continue reading Embrace the Energy of the Essentials.

Looking forward to reading your slices from today.  Looking for inspiration for today's slice?  Why not pay attention to the places that are important to your everyday life.  Please link your posts in the comment section of this post.

When I was in Stacey's classroom, they opened their day with the poem "This is Indiana" by Rebecca Kai Dotlich.  This bit of the poem inspires my slice of life today: This is Indiana, veined with fields and farms. Scored with rivers and lakes, paved with bridges and barns. Embroidered with churches on rich, fertile… Continue reading Ruth’s Slice of Life: Indiana.

This week I'm thinking about the importance of place.  So for my Memoir Monday, I captured some memories from one of my very favorite places of my past.  If you are looking for some inspiration to guide your writing today, perhaps you could also collect some snippets from an important place of your past.  I'm… Continue reading Memoir Monday

One of my favorite places in this world is Geneva Center.  Here are pieces from my memory that will someday lead to more writing. The smell of the campfire that glows on the faces of campers. The sound of good stories, bible passages, and singing voices. Laughter. More laughter. The kind of laughter that can… Continue reading Ruth’s Memoir Monday: Geneva Center

Today I had the honor to go to school with Stacey!  There's only one word to describe being in her classroom -- WOW!  She is an amazing teacher, which we know, but to see it in person was incredible.  I could make a list of all the remarkable things I noticed, but the post would… Continue reading Stacey’s Classroom.

Two Writing Teachers turned TWO today!  To celebrate, Stacey bought a cake & I "dropped by" for a little bloggie-celebration!  How fun to be in the same room together as opposed to 872 miles apart!  🙂