I finished reading the outstanding Why They Can’t Write by John Warner recently, which was filled with excellent writerly advice. But it also got me thinking about the somewhat accidental path that got me engaged in continuous professional development. When I first started teaching, I was eager to get involved in things that would help […]
When I began incorporating inquiry into my instruction early in my career, I was excited by the possibilities. It was finally a way for students to personalize learning; I could hand over the role of the question-asker to the students and guide them as they found answers to topics in which they were invested. For […]
Gentle readers, when we were last together, I shared some ideas for assessing the spirit of workshop with an emphasis on assessing both process and product without looking for perfection. Instead, in writing workshop, we look for growth. When we consider assessment separate from grading (something too personal, too school-by-school to really make broad recommendations […]
Student: Why are you going to India for Ms. Bond? Me: For a conference on how to be a better teacher and person (my typical response). Student: Is it for AP? (She is one of my go-getter AP students) Me: Not specifically. Student: Did you have to go to a conference for our class? Me: Yup. […]
Since the beginning of the school year, I’ve been writing about the different ways I try to make research relevant for my students. We have to help them build context so they can research effectively and ask nuanced questions, we have to support their reading and give them strategies for wading through these complex texts, […]
I’ve never spoken to a group of teachers about writing workshop where someone didn’t pose the question, “Wait — but how do you grade this?” Here’s what I always say: I can share how I think about assessing students’ writing, but I can’t tell you how to “grade” it. First of all, as it’s well […]
Anyone who takes on a coaching role likely finds themselves navigating the deep waters of vulnerability several times a day. It’s tricky and oftentimes uncomfortable. Vulnerability can manifest itself in many different ways. We’re all learners, and we’re all human, after all. Some of us shrink back; others get defensive. Sometimes, as a coach, I’m […]
I started this morning as I begin nearly every weekday morning when my writing alarm goes off: throw on my oversized sweater, tiptoe down the stairs (being oh-so-careful to avoid the stairs’ creaks and cracks so my babies don’t wake up, rending my writing time null and void), hit the coffee maker’s switch, light the […]
You might know Paige from this guest post or this guest post! We loved her and her perspective and her voice so much that we invited her along for the ride as our newest contributing writer! Welcome her in the comments below! *** “It has got to stop!” These words, spoken by Kylene Beers at […]
Last time, I encouraged you to have LOUD, boisterous writing workshops full of writerly talk between writers and between writers and teachers. Our confident writers benefit from identifying sounding boards in the classroom; our insecure writers can often do more in their speech than they can through their written language, so intentional classroom talk time […]
I recently dropped into a colleague’s class while her students were in the midst of a pretty deep dive of a research project and was impressed by some of the conversations I listened to about source reliability and peer-review. It made me second guess–for a moment–the project my kids are working on right now wherein […]
There’s a John Lennon song that addresses an issue that teachers know all too well: “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making [lesson] plans.” Even the most responsive and differentiated approaches can fall victim to the different kinds of chaos that life throws our way (Technology, I’m talking to you). On top […]
Last month I wrote Part 1 of this topic. It focused on the “messiness” of the writing process. Actually, it focused on the necessity of it. For it is within the messiness that student engagement and ownership over their writing increases. This post is about what comes after that messiness…what to do with all of […]
Note: Today’s post marks the beginning of a new beat for winter–reducing decision fatigue in the writing classroom. So many of us pour our energy into lesson and unit prep, grading papers, reorganizing the classroom, setting up conferences and other writing teacherly tasks that we have very little energy to do the most important work […]
We came back from school this week and my students in AP Seminar are diving headfirst into a big research project. They’ve done some researching, started annotating sources, done a lot of thinking…so now what?
I finished reading the outstanding Why They Can’t Write by John Warner recently, which was filled with excellent writerly advice. But it also got me thinking about the somewhat accidental path that got me engaged in continuous professional development. When I first started teaching, I was eager to get involved in things that would help […]
When I began incorporating inquiry into my instruction early in my career, I was excited by the possibilities. It was finally a way for students to personalize learning; I could hand over the role of the question-asker to the students and guide them as they found answers to topics in which they were invested. For […]
Gentle readers, when we were last together, I shared some ideas for assessing the spirit of workshop with an emphasis on assessing both process and product without looking for perfection. Instead, in writing workshop, we look for growth. When we consider assessment separate from grading (something too personal, too school-by-school to really make broad recommendations […]
There’s a John Lennon song that addresses an issue that teachers know all too well: “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making [lesson] plans.” Even the most responsive and differentiated approaches can fall victim to the different kinds of chaos that life throws our way (Technology, I’m talking to you). On top […]
Student: Why are you going to India for Ms. Bond? Me: For a conference on how to be a better teacher and person (my typical response). Student: Is it for AP? (She is one of my go-getter AP students) Me: Not specifically. Student: Did you have to go to a conference for our class? Me: Yup. […]
Since the beginning of the school year, I’ve been writing about the different ways I try to make research relevant for my students. We have to help them build context so they can research effectively and ask nuanced questions, we have to support their reading and give them strategies for wading through these complex texts, […]
Mentor Text: When Did Will Smith Stop Being Cool? by Shea Serrano Techniques: Analysis Multi-media writing Background- Oh, it’s a busy time of year. Semester two began this week, which meant exams last week, and there are reports to finish up. Not to make excuses, but when it came time to write this installment of Mentor […]
My beat this year is all about exploring how students can write their way INto texts and use their writing (or others’) to learn more about literature. If you’re looking for new ways to use writing in a literature study or hoping to blend writing workshop into a course where it doesn’t seem like a […]
I’ve never spoken to a group of teachers about writing workshop where someone didn’t pose the question, “Wait — but how do you grade this?” Here’s what I always say: I can share how I think about assessing students’ writing, but I can’t tell you how to “grade” it. First of all, as it’s well […]
Instead of giving you a specific account to follow with this edition of Teaching From My Twitter Feed, I thought we’d have some fun with one my favorite Twitter joys: The Rabbit Hole. There’s a Rabbit Hole for every topic you can imagine on Twitter, and probably for a few you can’t. There’s also lots […]
