In my first semester beat, I’m exploring the life-saving power of routines–but not just any routines. I’m talking about routines that make life easier, more efficient, and more familiar–even in the most daunting of times (cough, 2020, cough). I’m talking about routines that allow students to thrive whether you are teaching in person, virtually, hybrid, […]
In this post you will meet Matt Foss—a colleague from my most recent teaching post at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi. Right away you will pick up on Matt’s passion and openness for teaching as we discuss his IB Lang/Lit classes. Below is a breakdown of the main topics we covered so that […]
It’s funny how a few things in school remain mostly normal despite everything else feeling so strange this year. Like the annual arrival of National Honors Society nominations– it was a nice reminder of “normal” when a student in my Zoom last week asked if we could set up a breakout room so he could […]
In my first semester beat, I’m exploring the life-saving power of routines–but not just any routines. I’m talking about routines that make life easier, more efficient, and more familiar–even in the most daunting of times (cough, 2020, cough). I’m talking about routines that allow students to thrive whether you are teaching in person, virtually, hybrid, […]
Reconsidering my classroom practices from the perspective of a very serious video gamer…a post about writing that just happens to use video games as a metaphor
Things are crazy right now, to say the least. When I started my instructional coaching job, I made a vision and a mission statement that I hung up above my desk. I refer to it more often than I care to admit as I often let my agenda, my feelings, and what I think is […]
I have heard numerous teachers say that although the end of last year was crazy, the start of this academic year is crazier. With even more uncertainty of what the year as whole will look like, teachers are navigating unexplored territory. Yet, amidst all of this (along with the increased tension of a pandemic, politics, […]
This year at Moving Writers, I hope to explore various ways to utilize writing practices in your classroom to build strong social-emotional relationships with students despite the physical separations imposed on classrooms by the pandemic. I hope very much that this proves to be a limited series… When I posted my first contribution of the […]
Our guest post today is from Amy Menzel who currently teaches English language arts at Waukesha West High School in Wisconsin. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Emerson College, and a Teacher Consultant with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Writing Project. You can reach her at almenzel@waukesha.k12.wi.us or connect with her on Twitter @mrs_menzel […]
The Feedback Dilemma The workshop model is built around giving students high-impact and timely feedback. Instead of writing comments on a graded paper, we get to work with students one-on-one or in small groups during the reading and writing process. As a result, students get that feedback when they need it, and they have time […]
