Mentor Text: My Father’s Moustache by Ada Limon Techniques: Background – As I write this, I still have a few days left of the holiday break. We taught until mere days before Christmas, but have the whole first week of January off. It’s been a period of necessary recharging and relaxation in our household. In fact, […]
Mentor Text: Chiaroscuro by Billy Corgan Techniques: Background – You may have noticed that I’ve settled into a bit of a rhythm in my Mentor Text Wednesday posts, alternating between prose and poetry. I may have mentioned this before, but perhaps 5 years ago or so, I really felt I wanted to do poetry better in […]
Sometime during the first week of school this year, I taped this note to my desk: I wanted this year to be different. Not just different than the last few years of COVID School, but different than all the other years of my teaching that valued efficiency and productivity almost above all. (I love efficiency. […]
Mentor Text: Softball team at the ferry terminal after Provincials by Kirsten Pendreigh Techniques: Background – One of my favourite autumn traditions recently happened – I picked up a copy of The Best American Poetry 2022. And last year, I added The Best Canadian Poetry annual volume to this tradition. Perhaps it’s because we’re playing a […]
Mentor Text: untitled Olympic hockey poem by Richard Wagamese (arranged by Allan Hawco) Techniques: Background – Is anyone else struggling to find the groove this year? I’m thankful that I have years of experience to draw on, and archives of lessons to tweak, to build new ideas upon. I’m using that this week friends. My initial […]
Mentor Text: One-Line Poems by Stuart Ross and Snow by Alice Burdick Techniques: Line breaks in poetry Background – For the first time in almost three years, we were able to make our annual trip to Nova Scotia. Though it’s a month full of fun and family, I still find time to read. I’ve got a […]
Mentor Text: ‘The Fence I Never Climbed, or, There Is a Parking Lot where Once I Broke My Arm’ by Neil Hilborn Techniques: Memoir Anaphora Titling Background – This school year, the third one under what I’ve taken to calling pandemic influenced learning, was tough. As it closed, I found myself sighing in relief. In a […]
It’s hard to believe I haven’t published a post here since January, but how the the wheels of time keep turning! And I hope you will excuse my absence, as I have been working on my biggest writing project ever: a book for teachers! The title is Poetry Pauses: Using Poems to Improve Writing in […]
Mentor Text: Salvage by Hedgie Choi Techniques: Exploring the use of profanity Poetic form Building connections Background – I’m a recovering magazine addict. I’ve gone from snagging every magazine that slightly caught my eye, and subscribing to numerous publications to buying more selectively, and holding a single subscription. That preamble is just so I can talk […]
We are adding EVEN MORE opportunities for live, virtual professional development this spring! We hope that you’ll join us for one or more of these sessions! March 5 Poetry Pauses to Rouse Your Writers Next Week Brief “poetry pauses” not only build students’ capacity for critical reading + stamina for writing, but they can also […]
moving writers 