Making my writing thinking visible to my students has given them another tool to “get unstuck”...
Category: writing workshop
In Thanks: Books That Built a Writing Teacher
What are the books that have shaped you as a teacher of writing? Reflecting today, in thanks, for the authors and books that have influenced my life as a teacher.
Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge on #TWTBlog
Welcome to the Slice of Life Story Challenge on this great Tuesday. We are so glad you are joining us today.
Living the Life of a Writer
At this point of the school year, your writing workshop is probably in full swing. You are chugging along through your writing curriculum, and you are probably using checklists and rubrics to assess your young writers' developing skills. Today's post is a reminder to step back and think not only about the discrete writing skills… Continue reading Living the Life of a Writer
Drilling Down into the Writing
Of the many ways I gain an understanding of my writers, my favorite and most valuable is gathering up all the writing and diving into reading ALL the students’ work.
A Short & Sweet Minilesson Formula
There is a formula that I use, time and time again, to adapt my own minilessons. Yes, this formula helps me keep my minilessons to about ten minutes and makes planning more streamlined, but more importantly this formula helps me with one of my personal goals as a teacher: student engagement.
The View from Pennsylvania: A Trip to Highlights Foundation
A little over a year ago, Stacey posted about an "Unworkshop" at a place called the Highlights Foundation. Her experience sounded blissful and it soon became something on my bucket list. I then began looking for workshop opportunities at this special little place in Pennsylvania. What I found was that they offered a variety… Continue reading The View from Pennsylvania: A Trip to Highlights Foundation
Where do your minilessons live?
How do we keep these minilessons alive for our kids? What do we do to make sure our kids have these anchor charts to reference as they begin drafting, revising, editing?
A Tale of Teachers: Collaboration, Community, Connection
Once upon a time, there was a teacher who became a better teacher by connecting with other passionate educators...
A Closer Look
Try typing out a mentor text to get a closer look.
Writing Workshop Feels Better with Less
Our workshop was feeling forced, unnatural, and just rushed! We struggled to fit it all in and share time (the most valued time) was cut short with only 1 or 2 writers sharing each day. Something had to give. Writers weren't growing, I wasn't conferring, and it just didn't feel calm and productive. I reflected on our workshop, the work of the writers, and the choices I was making, but I couldn't figure out what was making me feel so unsettled.
Writers ARE Readers: A Review and a Giveaway
Writers ARE Readers explores the connection between reading and writing instruction.

