Every time I go to a workshop about research writing and synthesis (and I’ve been to a few since I teach both AP Language and AP Seminar), we talk about making smoothies or chocolate chip cookies or chili. In every instance–much to my disappointment– we’re not talking about eating, we’re talking about blending evidence effectively. […]
There are lots of ways to “do” research in a secondary classroom–everything from small writing pieces with just a little research to full-blown research projects that span several weeks. However you do it, though, it can get messy quickly. How do we show them all the rules of citation without overwhelming them? How do we […]
Last year on day two, my AP Language students threw me for a loop. I had asked them to do some writing as summer work and our team of teachers had decided we’d conference with the students about the pieces rather than grade them. Conferences in the first week of school seemed like the perfect […]
When Rebekah and Allison originally pitched the idea of Moving Writers developing something to help teachers promote summer writing for their students, I was already knee-deep in a discussion with my AP Lang Voxer group about writers’ notebooks and how we can make them authentic for our students. One thing we all noticed pretty […]
I used to be the proud mother of this beautiful beast: He crossed the rainbow bridge a few years ago, but I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately because I have some writers who remind me of him. Before you get offended on their behalf (She’s comparing children to a dog?!), I need to […]
Usually, my Teaching From My Twitter Feed posts are about a great article or image that popped up in my feed right at the right time. This week, however, I want to focus on a different way my twitter feed has impacted my teaching–Twitter chats. If you’ve never participated in a twitter chat, this awesome […]
My husband is in a grad school program that requires a lot of writing. He likes to write, and he’s a good writer, so that’s not a problem….except he also works full time with crazy hours and we have two small-ish children. He’s just juggling way too much. So I was not surprised at all […]
It’s second semester and my AP Seminar kids are knee-deep in their official Performance Tasks. For those unfamiliar with the AP Capstone program, that means my kids are doing giant, independent research projects and I am required to take a very “hands off” approach. I can give general instructions to the whole class, and I […]
Twitter never ceases to amaze me for its ability to come through with exactly what I need at the right moment. This week my students are studying Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and my colleagues and I wanted to pair it with some modern satire. Though Swift’s text certainly has some shock value (eating […]
Around this time every year, I start channeling my inner white rabbit. As of today, I have 3 months until my kids will sit for their end-of-course exams. If you subtract a half week for mid-winter break, a week for spring break, three days for state testing, and another three for a giant field trip […]
