What I’m Thankful For: Small Writing & Big Thinking

These days, everything seems big. The problems are enormous, the exhaustion is shattering, and the challenges are endless. It’s no wonder I keep finding myself feeling totally overwhelmed. Whenever I realize that I’m sitting in an overwhelmed space, I’ve found that something that’s helpful to me is to break the enormity down into smaller pieces. […]

Books That Move Us: They Say/I Say: Moves that Matter in Academic Writing by Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff

How many essays have you written for academic purposes? It is likely that if you are reading this, you have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree.  Let’s say that while earning said bachelor’s degree, you took an average of 5 classes in the fall semester and 5 classes in the spring semester for 4 years.  […]

Books That Move Us: Illuminated Inquiry — Researcher’s Workshop Across the Curriculum

Lindsay Bruggeman is a high school English teacher and volleyball coach at Loveland High School.  She is currently working toward her Masters of Arts in Teaching with the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University.   You can reach her at lindsaybruggeman3@gmail.com or Twitter @MrsBruggemanLHS. What are the chances it rains this Saturday?  Where is the […]

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 […]

Summer Reading for Writing Teachers: Teaching Writers to Reflect

Not every administrator “gets” writing workshop (she says laughing at the biggest understatement ever). But a couple years ago, one of my admins, who didn’t really “get” writing workshop, complimented our program saying, “Well, I’ll tell you this. These are the most reflective students we have ever had. They can write reflectively for pages!” While that’s […]

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 […]

Books That Move Us: Project-Based Writing by Liz Prather

Today’s guest writer is Jennifer Brinkmeyer, who teaches Reading Strategies and U.S. Lit Honors in Iowa City, IA. Jennifer loves teaching students how to commit rebellious acts of literacy. She is constantly seeking ways to bring her writing life into the classroom to help students validate their own writing lives. Today, Jennifer shares about a […]