assessment · authentic assessment · formative assessment · management · on-demand piece · self-assessment

Tips for Analyzing and Scoring a Ton of Writing

Time is precious, and your mental energy even more so. Why waste either when others before you have learned through trial and error? Avoid common missteps by reading these simple tips.

independence

From Dependent to Independent: Four Ways To Begin Tomorrow

We're not just teaching writers to be independent, we're teaching them how to be independent. Here are four ways to nurture independence during today's writing workshop!

slice of life

It’s SOL Tuesday

Today, on the 17th anniversary of the tragic day, 9/11 choose kind.    Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11.                        … Continue reading It’s SOL Tuesday

September 11th · september 11th tribute

Pausing to Remember 9/11

We, at Two Writing Teachers, pause today to remember all the lives that were lost and the heroes who gave their all in trying to save others. Since tomorrow is a Slice of Life Tuesday, our post about 9/11 is published today.

mentor texts · picture book · Read Aloud

Books to Begin the School Year

Add six new picture books to your back-to-school read alouds and to your mentor text collection this fall. After you read through this post, be sure to leave a comment about how you'd use these books in your classroom for a chance to win all six of them.

revision · risk-taking · Teachers who write · teaching tools

4 Tips for Modeling with Your Own Writing

For many of us who work to live as writers and teachers who write, we likely do so in order to appreciate the challenge, the complexity, and the thrill that writing can provide for our lives.  It is living through the process that matters.  But what about turning some of our writing into teaching tools for our writing workshops? Here are four tips...

community · writer identity · writing prompts · writing workshop

The Forging of a Writing Community

No longer scared and timid, our work has forged a community of writers. 

slice of life

SOL Tuesday

As you join us on Tuesday year-round for Slice of Life we hope to learn about how being a teacher who writes is making its presence in your days.

poetry · writing workshop

Poetry Every Day in 5 Minutes or Less

For some, this might be your last evening before school begins. For others, you might be on your third week! Tonight I'm sharing five, five-minute ideas that might just help you fit poetry into your day, each day. I needed to find a solution to the lack of poetry in my day for my students and I'm hoping these ideas might just inspire some of your own as you begin a new year.

narrative · social media · story ideas · storytelling · writing workshop

Playing Around with Instagram Stories

I've been tinkering with Instagram Stories this summer. I've discovered several ways teacher-writers can use them as a tool for living and storytelling.

mentor texts · shared writing

A Fall To-Do List for Shared Writing in Your K-2 Classroom

Maybe this will be the year I do a lot more shared writing!

writer identity

Writers, Not Just For Workshop

When it comes to identity and living a writerly life, our work does not begin or end at writing workshop. In this post, I highlight three practical steps for nurturing writers beyond writing workshop.