I started a new book the other day, and as I settled into it, it felt like I was returning to an old friend even though I’d never read it before. At first, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but as I kept reading, I realized that it felt very much like another […]
Thinking about our writing, big picture, helps us to think about who and how we want to be as people, and as we the people.
As the season of AP Lang exams fast approaches, I find myself more and more urgently seeking ways to help tighten gaps in my students’ skill sets. Fine tuning writing skills is a part of it, but when it comes to one AP Lang task–the Open Argument essay–there are more pressing issues that are a […]
Great student writers, the ones whose work I can’t wait to read, notice what writers do and begin to see how it all works together.
Closeup elements are how the story is told. Big Picture elements are the story itself.
“…in many writing classrooms, students are learning to write by not being allowed to do any of the things “real” writers do: make choices.”
Last month, I described my plans and worries for the new risk I’m taking with a familiar course: a mini fiction workshop in my IB English class. Last week we finished reading our mentor texts, stories from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck, and now students are in the middle of some independent […]
For those who’ve been following the ongoing adventures (exploits? misadventures?) of my focus student, Troy, and me this year, be aware that I’m taking a blog off from that beat. Troy and I are kind of in a holding pattern right now, and we’re also in between writing assignments as a whole class, so as […]
As is our habit, we are taking the summer away from the blog to read, write, and recharge. We’ll be back in late August with new content, but for the summer, let’s take a journey down memory lane as we visit our ten most-read posts from the previous school year! “You have to learn the […]
I’ve been a film fanatic since college, so my Twitter feed has a disproportionate share of film criticism amidst all the excellent educator voices. One of the better sites I’ve discovered for film coverage is Film School Rejects (Twitter handle: @oneperfectshot). They often just tweet singular frames from films which makes for great visual analysis […]
moving writers 