I humbly suggest an alternative analogy for generative AI, more fitting for the classroom: the microwave.
And to help me elaborate on this analogy, I want you to meet my mom.
Category: writing process
Flash Proofreading Inspired by Rebekah’s Flash Revision
I tried Rebekah O’Dell’s Flash Revision and loved the results. Later in the unit, one of my students asked, “Why don’t you help me with a timer while proofreading too? It’s harder than revision.”
Why Mentor Text Work Is Hard for ELLs
I heard Dance Monkey for the first time after watching the NYT analysis. My response was limited to “catchy and cool”. All my mentor texts are new to my ELLs and they read them for the first time when I bring them to class. Their response is similarly limited to “nice and good”.
A Lesson on Beginnings Before Teaching Narrative Leads
When students do not think through the point of entry into their story, they pick the first thing that occurs to them, and this almost always means that the memoir gets narrated chronologically; any potential for flashbacks or other transitions in time is unexplored.
Simplifying Synthesis: Fun with Research…and Clip Art
My AP Researchers are moving fast this year–they’re on a wild roller coaster barreling towards the Research Proposal Loop-de-Loop and it’s probably fair to say a few of them are already wishing they hadn’t had that third corn dog before they hopped on the ride. It’s okay though; they’ll all end up on solid ground […]
Knowing vs. Discovering Theme: A Lesson in Topic Choice
Nancie Atwell calls theme “the chilliest mind Popsicle” of all the writing lessons that young writers need to learn, and I couldn’t agree more. (Atwell, 2015, 101) Theme is one of the toughest lessons I have had to learn to teach in both reading and writing and by the time I did, I not only […]
AI Meets AP: A Collaboration Between Top Writers and ChatGPT
Like most English teachers, my AP Literature and Composition students have a special kind of scorn for AI writing. And it makes sense: They are some of the most skilled writers in the school, and likely they feel threatened by technology that claims to replicate the skill that helped propel them to academic success, often […]
A Case for Proofreading Right from the Start
Choose what’s true for you:
A) It makes complete sense to teach/focus on editing and proofreading after the craft lessons.
B) I wish my students’ writing were rid of niggling errors in basic conventions, especially the ones I have already taught.
All Things Made New: My New Book About Writing
This year on Moving Writers, I’ve spotlighted re-reads of some older books about writing, and not all of them by teachers. Together, we examined the writer’s inner life with the poet Ted Hughes, practiced memory writing with the book Metro: Journeys in Writing Creatively, and honed our questions for conferring with the wonderful Barry Lane. […]
First Writing Moves of the School Year: PART 2 (Storytelling)
How do we get students to buy into writing? How do we begin to hear their stories. Oral storytelling is a way to engage your writers in a low stakes way and create a basis for a really strong writing community.
moving writers 