As is our habit, we are taking the summer away from the blog to read, write, and recharge. We’ll be back in late August with new content, but for the summer, let’s take a journey down memory lane as we visit our ten most-read posts from the previous school year! “You have to learn the […]
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100 Days of Summer Writing: FAQ
The 2nd annual 100 Days of Summer Writing is underway! Welcome, new friends! So good to see you, friends from last summer! We are hopeful that this will be a restorative and transformative experience for you both as a person and as a writing teacher! We are also grateful to those of you who registered […]
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100 Days Of Summer Writing
100 Days of Summer Writing 2019 100 Days of Summer Writing 2019 (Want 200 Days of Summer Writing? Here are the #100DSW18!) Click here for a brief 100 Days of Summer Writing FAQ We are SO excited to be bringing you 100 days of mentor-text-based summer writing inspiration for a second year! We […]
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The “After Exam” Conundrum
Here’s the situation… It is the day after the AP Lang exam and 22 grade 11 students walked into class. And all of their faces said the same thing: “We are done the exam. What are we going to do now?” They sat down ready to read—they knew that at least that wouldn’t be changing […]
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Teachers, Leaders, and Administrators: A Balancing Act
In my last post, I wrote about trying to balance the role of coach and consultant in my role. It’s one that’s inherent for anyone in a leadership role. How do you know when to offer your own thinking vs. when to step back to support as someone else wrestles with theirs? It’s a tricky […]
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Genius Hour + Writing Workshop: Do-Overs and Take-Aways
This semester I’ve been chronicling my first-ever experiment with Genius Hour and its intersection with the regular machinations of our writing workshop. You can catch up on the other posts in this series before diving into this wrap up! ________________________________________________________________________________________ Genius Hour, and the school year, are almost over. My students are writing their final […]
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#SalemWildcatsRead: Using Mentor Texts to Create a Community of Readers
As much as I hate to admit it, I was not much of a reader in high school. It’s not that I didn’t like reading. I did. I just didn’t know what to read. My friend would buy books every now and then and pass them along to me. I would read them and enjoy […]
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Moving Writers Thrives at the End of the Year
Moving Writers Survives Thrives at the End of the Year In September I wrote a post about beginning the school year slowly and avoiding the instinct to “hit the ground running.” Today’s post is about that very same thing, except it’s May, so we’re thinking about ways we can begin to slow down and close […]
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Life Happens: A Genius Hour Companio
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 […]
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Preview, not Review.
You can feel the anxiety in the air. A buzzing current at present, but one that will steadily increase in intensity as the days close in on the AP Language and Composition exam (May 15th). So my focus right now is on my juniors—a group of 21 bright, young individuals who I have worked with […]
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Genius Hour + Writing Workshop: Broadening the Definition of “Research”
This semester I’m sharing my experiment with bringing Genius Hour into my writing workshop. You can catch up on the rest of the series here. I don’t have many crystal-clear high school English class memories, believe it or not, but one of them is sitting in the library with my 11th grade class, a stack […]
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Summer Reading for Writing Teachers: Welcome to the Writing Workshop
Ever since I read Write Beside Them, I have been on the hunt for the perfect primer to writing workshop — the big, broad strokes. The definitions of all the workshoppy words in one place. Ideas for how to set up the classroom. The gist of what a mini-lesson should sound like and what students should […]
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Summer Work That Sparks Curiosity
All year I’ve been writing about teaching research writing. I’ve been teaching two research-heavy classes (AP Seminar and a class called The Incubator) and it’s forced me to zero in on what I’m doing to help my students see the relevance of developing solid research skills. It has pushed me to think about the why […]
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100 Days of Summer Writing 2019: A Call for Mentor Texts
Friends, it’s almost time. Moving Writers is hosting its second annual 100 Days of Summer Writing — a mentor-text driven writing exploration for teachers and students alike! But we need your help! We need to compile (at least) 100 mentor-text-inspired writing invitations! And we want YOU to contribute a verse! Here’s how: Find some mentor […]
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Navigating Vulnerability Part 3: The Coach and Consultant Balance
This semester, I’ve been writing a series of posts about the role of vulnerability in coaching. The idea is, if we’re not aware of the underlying vulnerabilities in our conversations and our practice, we’re not going to be able to grow. So far, I’ve written about two different vulnerabilities that I’ve recognized in teachers and […]
Moving Writers’ Top Ten: What LEGO bricks and Writing Intervention Have in Common
As is our habit, we are taking the summer away from the blog to read, write, and recharge. We’ll be back in late August with new content, but for the summer, let’s take a journey down memory lane as we visit our ten most-read posts from the previous school year! “You have to learn the […]
Moving Writers’ Top Ten: The Workshop Model & Showing What Matters
As is our habit, we are taking the summer away from the blog to read, write, and recharge. We’ll be back in late August with new content, but for the summer, let’s take a journey down memory lane as we visit our ten most-read posts from the previous school year! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ I found it difficult […]
100 Days of Summer Writing: FAQ
The 2nd annual 100 Days of Summer Writing is underway! Welcome, new friends! So good to see you, friends from last summer! We are hopeful that this will be a restorative and transformative experience for you both as a person and as a writing teacher! We are also grateful to those of you who registered […]
The “After Exam” Conundrum
Here’s the situation… It is the day after the AP Lang exam and 22 grade 11 students walked into class. And all of their faces said the same thing: “We are done the exam. What are we going to do now?” They sat down ready to read—they knew that at least that wouldn’t be changing […]
Teachers, Leaders, and Administrators: A Balancing Act
In my last post, I wrote about trying to balance the role of coach and consultant in my role. It’s one that’s inherent for anyone in a leadership role. How do you know when to offer your own thinking vs. when to step back to support as someone else wrestles with theirs? It’s a tricky […]
Genius Hour + Writing Workshop: Do-Overs and Take-Aways
This semester I’ve been chronicling my first-ever experiment with Genius Hour and its intersection with the regular machinations of our writing workshop. You can catch up on the other posts in this series before diving into this wrap up! ________________________________________________________________________________________ Genius Hour, and the school year, are almost over. My students are writing their final […]
#SalemWildcatsRead: Using Mentor Texts to Create a Community of Readers
As much as I hate to admit it, I was not much of a reader in high school. It’s not that I didn’t like reading. I did. I just didn’t know what to read. My friend would buy books every now and then and pass them along to me. I would read them and enjoy […]
Moving Writers Thrives at the End of the Year
Moving Writers Survives Thrives at the End of the Year In September I wrote a post about beginning the school year slowly and avoiding the instinct to “hit the ground running.” Today’s post is about that very same thing, except it’s May, so we’re thinking about ways we can begin to slow down and close […]
Life Happens: A Genius Hour Companio
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 […]
Preview, not Review.
You can feel the anxiety in the air. A buzzing current at present, but one that will steadily increase in intensity as the days close in on the AP Language and Composition exam (May 15th). So my focus right now is on my juniors—a group of 21 bright, young individuals who I have worked with […]
