Anyone who takes on a coaching role likely finds themselves navigating the deep waters of vulnerability several times a day. It’s tricky and oftentimes uncomfortable. Vulnerability can manifest itself in many different ways. We’re all learners, and we’re all human, after all. Some of us shrink back; others get defensive. Sometimes, as a coach, I’m […]
So here we are. It’s the end of November, which means that #nanowrimo is coming to a close, and I didn’t write my novel. Again. But this year, I’m totally okay with that. You see, in the past, I’ve taken a few different approaches to #nanowrimo: Are you crazy? Write a novel in a […]
“You have to learn the rules before you can break them.” This is an argument I hear frequently – usually in favor of teaching the 5 paragraph essay before more authentic genres or for memorizing parts of speech before studying craft. This year, my beat for Moving Writers reflects my role at school: intervention and […]
Over the years, I’ve probably revised my writing lesson plans more times than I’ve moved classrooms, and through that, I’ve come to learn that some of my best writing instruction is rooted right back where my reading instruction takes place: my classroom library.
It’s that time of year. Yeah, we may sometimes feel like we’re in survival mode with eager tallies marking how many Mondays are left in the school year, but as much as we might be counting down, we’re also starting to plan ahead for next year. We’re waxing reflective and submitting school supply lists to […]
We want our students to be flexible thinkers who can not only survive, but thrive in their explorations beyond our classroom walls. Taking a cue from Google and shifting our vocabulary instruction from defining to exploring is one way to move toward that goal.
We are in the midst of a movement. Not just one about school shootings and the NRA, but also one about literacy. About teaching students to really understand what they’re reading. About arming students with the power to write and speak in meaningful, impactful ways.
Writing alongside our students is one of the most important instructional moves we can make – both for our students and for ourselves.
There aren’t any cheat sheets or formulas to help students do well on the SAT essay. But as it turns out, that might actually be a good thing.
Although there may be a horde of teachers who have whittled it down to a perfect science, no teacher has ever been excited or invigorated by preparing his or her students for a standardized writing test. And yet, it’s something that pretty much every one of us must do in one way or another. Like […]
