Allison and I started Moving Writers, the blog, nearly 12 years ago on the Monday we returned to school after attending NCTE. We named it as we walked through the courtyard to our classrooms. “It’s not about making better writing,” Allison said. “It’s about growing better writers.” We began with an aggressive posting schedule of […]
Author: Rebekah O'Dell
Mini Moves for Every Writer: Available for Pre-Order NOW!
Back in the dark days of COVID school, my social studies colleague, Sam Futrell, and I started making videos for our students — the tiniest of mini lessons that may, perhaps, help them be able to write successfully on their own from home, or when they had an extended absence, or when they were sitting […]
Artful AI Moves for Teaching Writing: A New Live Event!
Our dear Brett Vogelsinger has a NEW BOOK coming to the world in 2025 — all about using not fighting AI in our writing instruction. He’s hosting a new live (and recorded) webinar next month to help all of us get started. Here’s his description: As a teacher of writing during the last two years, […]
Moving Writers’ Guide to Authentic Writing in Each Mode
I’ve been working on an 11-page digital primer to begin changing the way we think about research-writing. No more semester-long research papers, rife with inauthentic, teacher-driven rules and procedures. Here’s a place for all of us to start. Grab a copy of the guide and then join us for a webinar (sent to your inbox […]
Teaching Grammar with Mentor Texts
One of the most common questions I get asked when I speak with teachers is “Okay, but how do you teach grammar?” And this mini-course is my answer to that! Yes, I use mentor texts to teach grammar just like I use mentor texts to teach any other writing skill. But in this course, I […]
Coaching Call with Rebekah: How Can Teachers Gather Data About Students in English?
In my twenty years of teaching, I have been in many IEP / 504 meetings and participated in the writing of student goals. And, always, the more qualitative nature of English is a challenge. It doesn’t make sense, for instance, to write a goal necessitating a student to “correctly identify the main idea of a […]
Coaching Call with Rebekah: Nonfiction Reading Strategies
Over the last year or so, I’ve been thinking about how I can do more to help teachers. A one-day workshop or webinar is great, but I’m also convinced that the most important conversations we have are individual, one-on-one, and speak into the specifics of our lives. So, I started offering private coaching sessions just […]
By Request: PD All-Access Pass
Many of you have reached out in the last few hours asking for an all-inclusive PD option. The short answer: Sure! Here is the Moving Writers 2024-2025 PD All-Access pass. It is priced at 20% off the price of all six sessions purchased separately, which is essentially more than one session FREE. (And members of […]
Moving Writers Professional Development Calendar
I asked teachers in the Moving Writers Community to share their wish lists with me — the kind of professional development that they are dreaming of. And then I used those ideas to create a calendar of PD opportunities this school year. Others will probably pop up — in fact, I know for certain we’ll […]
Finding Your Voice: an Online Workshop + Coaching Experience for Students
We trust you more than anyone to lead the students in your classroom through a meaningful and successful personal essay writing experience. But, maybe you know students who are approaching the college application season and don’t have your support to get through it. Maybe you know some juniors and seniors who would benefit from an […]
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