We are so very happy to introduce you to our newest contributing writer, Brett Vogelsinger. Brett teaches high school English in Pennsylvania, but might already know him from the brilliance he shares all day every day on Twitter (@theVogelman). We’ve been borrowing good ideas from him for awhile, and we are so happy that he […]
Happy Holidays, friends! Alas, technology is getting me down today, so you’ll have to accept all my written words instead of a quick tip video this week. Thank you for being brave and carrying on. A few weeks ago, I shared one way of creating a triangle of communication between teacher, parent, and child […]
Happy December! Today, we have a request. Allison & I are hard at work on a new book with Heinemann, but we need your help. Actually, we need your voice. Literally. We want to know your burning questions about teaching with mentor texts. What do you just not quite get yet? What is standing between […]
(Sorry for the grainy sound today, folks!) Having students create documents that compile the writerly work in their notebooks has been a huge win! Students are able to share an often invisible process with their parents, they are able to share their reflections with me, and they are able to show themselves how far they […]
One of my greatest NCTE joys have been the times members of the Moving Writers team have gotten to join forces at NCTE. I love these people — their deeply-felt philosophies about teaching writing to make a difference in children’s learning and lives, their practical, boots-on-the-ground, why-didn’t-I-think-of-that brilliance. Here are some of the resources from […]
Today’s guest post is written by Ann Cox, a high school English teacher who has over twenty years of experience. Ann credits her involvement with the National Writing Project in transforming the way she teaches writing. She can be reached at annkellycox@gmail.com. Mentor Text: Silver-Lined Heart by Taylor Mali Techniques: Writing About Oneself Writing Poetry […]
Sometimes I forget to make space for writers to communicate with me. In the hustle of the day-in-and-day-out, I slip into communicating AT kids instead of communicating WITH kids. One easy way I have found to change this is to make their writing goals super-visible — in the student’s face and in my face all […]
With only two weeks until NCTE, we wanted to share where you can find members of the Moving Writers team — as well as the whole gang together! Please join us for some invigorating learning in Baltimore! And don’t forget to grab us and say hi — whether at our meet up or at one […]
Screencast author’s notes are the perfect way to build a triangle of communication between parents, students, and the teacher! (And on the very, very most practical level, it gives me a class period at my desk to make sure everyone has submitted a best draft on time while students work!) Here are some resources to […]
In my last post, I discussed how a small change I made to the seating in my classroom affected my day-to-day approach to teaching writing. Simply moving students into small groups allowed me to see so many valuable opportunities for collaboration in my instruction. Today, I’m going to talk about the collaborative benefits another small […]
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