If you're a political junkie like me, then you love presidential election years. Seriously, I live for election night coverage... it's my Super Bowl! (I'm not kidding. I have laid in bed late at night and checked my iPhone just to find out if returns came back from close-to-call caucuses and primaries earlier this year.) … Continue reading Vote for Me + a Giveaway
Category: writing workshop
Editing Wonderings
I've been thinking a lot about editing and conventions and writing workshop. My ideas keep twirling around and I'm trying to grab hold, but they don't seem to want to be pinned down quite yet. Or maybe I'm still looking for the thing that interests me the most. What I'm grappling with is the disconnect… Continue reading Editing Wonderings
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Procedures
Traditionally we think about writing workshop procedures at the beginning of the school year. We set the routines, organize the procedures, and launch writing workshop. I'm thinking, though, around this time of year, it might be a good idea to evaluate procedures. By this point in the school year, the writers in our classrooms have… Continue reading Procedures
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Mr. Stowlkey and Mr. Smith
Mr. Stowlkey and Mr. Smith were the teachers in one of the kindergarten writing workshops I was in today. They are incredible teachers. They are both six. (Normally I don't refer to students as Mr. or Miss...but since they were acting as teachers today, they wanted to go with this form of their names. I'll… Continue reading Mr. Stowlkey and Mr. Smith
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Writing Territories + Test Prompt Writing
One of the causes of anxiety regarding the writing prompt, is the unknown. We don't know what genre students will be asked to write. We don't know the topic. Test situations are stressful enough, but when we add in these unknowns, the stress levels skyrocket. Here's the deal, though. Students can have an idea of… Continue reading Writing Territories + Test Prompt Writing
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How much collaboration is too much?
There were a few times when I sat back at the end of a day of teaching and thought I don't know if I'd want to be a student in my own classroom. The reason for this horrible realization? There was just too much group work going on, especially in mathematics. I often felt as… Continue reading How much collaboration is too much?
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2012
Wishing you a very happy, healthy, and writing-filled new year!
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Writing Groups + Classrooms
My writing group is an important part of my life as a writer. It's more than just accountability, but feedback and camaraderie and, well, if I'm super honest, fun. When I was a classroom teacher, I didn't do a very good job of establishing writing groups, or crit partners, for my students. I see now they were… Continue reading Writing Groups + Classrooms
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What fuels writing workshop?
Around my school, we have three more Mondays of school left in 2011. That's not much, and yet, during this season of grey days, holiday excitement, and indoor recess, it can seem so l o n g. It has me thinking about the energy level in writing workshop. Is it high or low? Like other… Continue reading What fuels writing workshop?
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Right Back At It…
I figured by now I would have time to write a post reflecting on NCTE. However, I apparently forgot (once again) that there are a limited number of hours in a day. The post will have to wait. Instead, here is a brief list of highlights. Laurie Halse Anderson, Katherine Patterson, and David Levithan hosted… Continue reading Right Back At It…
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Word Count
I've had a daily word count for awhile. I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I think it was while writing Day by Day. However, it was while becoming serious about writing fiction that my word count became as much a part of my day as brushing my teeth. I think this is true… Continue reading Word Count
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11 on 11.11.11
It's kind of been a long week, so I'm going to save the blog post that has been tumbling around in my mind until I have a little more time to pull it together. Instead I'll give you 11 snippets on 11.11.11. Thank you for the comments and feedback on this post. I'm glad the… Continue reading 11 on 11.11.11
