We started Moving Writers almost 7 years ago to help teachers and to start a bigger, broader conversation about teaching writing. We wanted to help classroom teachers and provide resources that would ultimately impact the education and lives of students. Of course, those goals can’t come to fruition until the voices on this site truly […]
In our writing classrooms, 2020 has been a year full of surprise. In Pennsylvania, we had a warm, nearly snowless winter and sudden, snappy late frosts in in the spring, so it’s been a year of surprises in the garden just outside my back door as well. Recently, I started taking some photos of striking […]
Dear readers, We’ve been promising that we would announce our summer professional development offerings on June 1, but that’s just not right today. We promise that information will be forthcoming soon, but right now we need to pause. We are saddened, horrified, and angered by the killing of unarmed Black men and women in this […]
Trigger Warning: this post opens with a possibly offensive rant. If you feel the need to skip said rant, I have inserted a subheading to indicate where it is safe to begin reading. When I first started this beat about starting over and about being more intentional with which practices we keep and which ones […]
One key idea threads through my series this year about poetry as part of the writing process for other genres: poetry sharpens our diction. Frequent practice in reading and writing poetry tunes our eyes and ears to what works and does not work in our choice of words, the same way practicing guitar helps train […]
Dear poetry-loving English teacher friends, Last week, we paused. We paused because the kids needed a pause, and we needed a pause. In every way, I think all of us are trying to find that happy medium right now between all and nothing. But here we are again — week 4, the final week of our poetry […]
Lindsay Bruggeman is a high school English teacher currently working toward her Masters of Arts in Teaching with the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University. You can reach her at lindsaybruggeman3@gmail.com or Twitter @MrsBruggemanLHS So, where do we go from here? We can start by holding on to the good bones of our classrooms. […]
The good news is that words bind us together and can help us to create collaboratively with our students even as we all adjust to our new, socially distant ways.
Hello, friends, I hope you had a good week last week. I hope you’re feeling well, and that the people you love are feeling well, too. This week’s poetry work is focused on a strange pairing: imagery and concision. It seems like imagery is requisite for any kind of poetry study. However, I find that most […]
Hello, friends, It’s another week of distance learning — and boy, are we all learning. To tell you the truth, I’m grateful for the distraction of the learning right now. Less time to surf the news. 🙂 This week, my students will be thinking about line and stanza breaks and how poets do this intentionally to […]
Now that the pandemic has struck, many of us feel like we are starting over as we navigate this fluid and nebulous teaching situation. What’s a teacher to do? If you’re anything like me, you stand on the shoulders of other teachers. Every Sunday since this all began, the Ohio Writing Project has hosted […]
Hello, dear friends and brave teachers, I’m going to dispense with the bells and whistles because none of us have time for that. Since my students are at home for the rest of the year, I’ve made some on-the-fly adjustments to our curriculum (like: No Macbeth By Yourself at Home!) and, so, come up with […]
I am heading into week four of Remote Learning, and I am exhausted. The amount of time I spend sitting in a day and staring at a computer screen is ridiculous—and it can’t be healthy. Not only did I purchase some blue light glasses, but I also have my timer set to go off every […]
At this point in time, I’d be surprised if a teacher told me they haven’t gotten “the call” yet. And by “the call,” I mean when an administrator reaches out to teachers to inform them what the school and/or state would be doing in response to COVID19. I live in Illinois, so “the call” came […]
Today’s guest writer Emily Sommer walks us through a mentor text by one of our favorite pop culture writers, showing how it makes for a truly instructive piece for students learning the art of rhetorical analysis. Emily teaches AP English Language and Composition, AP Seminar, and Mythology at Stoney Creek High School in Rochester Hills, Michigan. […]
We started Moving Writers almost 7 years ago to help teachers and to start a bigger, broader conversation about teaching writing. We wanted to help classroom teachers and provide resources that would ultimately impact the education and lives of students. Of course, those goals can’t come to fruition until the voices on this site truly […]
In our writing classrooms, 2020 has been a year full of surprise. In Pennsylvania, we had a warm, nearly snowless winter and sudden, snappy late frosts in in the spring, so it’s been a year of surprises in the garden just outside my back door as well. Recently, I started taking some photos of striking […]
Dear readers, We’ve been promising that we would announce our summer professional development offerings on June 1, but that’s just not right today. We promise that information will be forthcoming soon, but right now we need to pause. We are saddened, horrified, and angered by the killing of unarmed Black men and women in this […]
Trigger Warning: this post opens with a possibly offensive rant. If you feel the need to skip said rant, I have inserted a subheading to indicate where it is safe to begin reading. When I first started this beat about starting over and about being more intentional with which practices we keep and which ones […]
Mentor Text – Bono’s Mash Notes to Songs He Loves Techniques: Expressing appreciation Audience Drafting Background – I’ve been using the phrase silver lining a lot lately. Mostly as a way to explain the moments I’ve enjoyed and appreciated as I figure out what it means to teach remotely during a pandemic. (To say nothing of […]
One key idea threads through my series this year about poetry as part of the writing process for other genres: poetry sharpens our diction. Frequent practice in reading and writing poetry tunes our eyes and ears to what works and does not work in our choice of words, the same way practicing guitar helps train […]
Our guest post today is from Amy Menzel who currently teaches English language arts at Waukesha West High School in Wisconsin. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Emerson College, and a Teacher Consultant with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Writing Project. You can reach her at almenzel@waukesha.k12.wi.us or connect with her on Twitter @mrs_menzel […]
The Feedback Dilemma The workshop model is built around giving students high-impact and timely feedback. Instead of writing comments on a graded paper, we get to work with students one-on-one or in small groups during the reading and writing process. As a result, students get that feedback when they need it, and they have time […]
Dear poetry-loving English teacher friends, Last week, we paused. We paused because the kids needed a pause, and we needed a pause. In every way, I think all of us are trying to find that happy medium right now between all and nothing. But here we are again — week 4, the final week of our poetry […]
Lindsay Bruggeman is a high school English teacher currently working toward her Masters of Arts in Teaching with the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University. You can reach her at lindsaybruggeman3@gmail.com or Twitter @MrsBruggemanLHS So, where do we go from here? We can start by holding on to the good bones of our classrooms. […]
