Mentor Text Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie Writing Techniques: Reflective Writing A Deliberate Shift Making Connections Background: A funny thing about teaching is how we revisit things. Sometimes, it’s because we teach the same texts or units of studies, the same courses. We revisit things because we need to refresh or remix them. This […]
One of the greatest things about being active online as a teacher is that you get to interact with, and learn from, a lot of different people. I would never go as far to tell anyone that they absolutely have to be on Twitter to be a good teacher, but I can comfortably say that […]
Mentor Text: Dead Game by Andrew Vachss Writing Techniques: Using Story to Explore an Issue Foreshadowing Personification Focusing a Narrative Background: I pulled this story out in my class this week, not as a mentor text, but as a tool to help us discuss our writing variables. There is a question on my Grade 12s’ […]
Somewhere, in my busy week of Halloween, my daughter’s birthday, teaching and student led conferences, I found time to do some marking. As I marked, I tweeted a picture of one of my marking sheets, sharing a couple of the reasons that I still use an analog marking model. I don’t do the math in […]
Mentor Text: What Static Shock Meant To Me As a Young Black Boy by Jaylen Pearson Writing Techniques: Writing About a Text Applying a Critical Lens Highlighting an Impactful Moment Writing an Introduction Background: My Grade 12 course is tied to a theme based around identity, individuality and independence, which we call The Three Is. […]
I do not hide the fact that I am a fan of rock and roll. And, if you’re a Canadian of my age, that means being a fan of The Tragically Hip. That means being a fan of Gord Downie. Gord, as we all call him, in a very Canadian way, like we knew him […]
Mentor Texts: The Poetry of Poets Respond, via Rattle Magazine Writing Techniques: Responding to current events Finding Inspiration Poetic Form Background: This post has been at the back of my mind for a while now. It’s not the first time I’ve written here about how our classrooms are places that we have to deal with the […]
If you’ve taken note of my Twitter handle, you might be curious about where it comes from. I didn’t join Twitter as a teacher, and my initial avatar was a drawing I did of a stuffed monkey that used to travel with my wife and I wherever we went. Being drawn to artistic pursuits, and […]
Mentor Texts: All 115 of Taylor Swift’s Songs, Ranked by Rob Sheffield School Days and Parisian Nightsuits: Every ‘Freaks and Geeks’ Episode, Ranked by Jennifer Wood Writing Techniques: Criticism Considering Appropriate Length Recognizing good writing Background: One of this week’s mentor texts was a total must read for me based upon the subject material. […]
If you’re a regular visitor to Moving Writers, you’ve seen the Behind The Scenes series of posts throughout September related to organizing the year. Earlier, throughout August, the Ask Moving Writers series had this team sharing answers to readers’ questions. I have an obvious bias, but what a wonderful thing to have a community of […]
moving writers 