My students came to me from a context where conferences were the times in class when the teacher would give 1-1 feedback to them, i.e., the teacher would list a bunch of things that needed to change by the next conference. I found that they spent most of their Independent Writing Time waiting for a […]
Category: Writing Workshop
It’s complicated… but does it have to be?
How The American Teenager project got my students talking and helped me get to know them better. Source About this time eight years ago I was searching for help. I had entered the world of education with a parade, waving a banner saying, “Look out students, this teacher is going to change your life!” It […]
Sparking Writing with Photography
This post is all out using students photography to generate writing juices in the classroom
Instant Mini Lessons: Using Student Writing Samples in Revision
Don’t you love it when, as a teacher, you can make yourself obsolete? That’s exactly what I intended to do in my first writing project of the year. In conjunction with The New York Times Coming of Age in 2023 contest, I wanted my students to write a scene about their lives where the reader […]
Delving into Text with Purpose and Focus
We’re thrilled to introduce you to another new contributing writer, Kelly Tumy. Kelly is a consultant in Texas, former president of TCTELA, incoming editor of the journal English in Texas, and one of the people in this biz that I trust them most. You’ll adore her. You can find out more about Kelly here or […]
3 Writing Experiences to Teach Concision
Every year, a parent comes to me (or, more likely, their child’s advisor or an administrator) with concerns that students aren’t writing pieces that are long enough. Where are the 10-page literary essays? The 20-page research papers? They are interested in quantity. The kind of volume they think will be expected of their child in […]
Becoming a Writer: Establishing explicit writer identities and writer habits
Jennifer has been teaching 10-12th grade English, AP lit, and Writing for the past 18 years, and recently she has launched her high school’s first Writing Center. She is looking forward to sharing specific Writing Center tips with the Moving Writers community! This may be a bit meta, but my first post is both a […]
3 Variations on a Top Ten List
As the summer waned and I prepared to start the year teaching in a new high school, I realized how uncertain I felt in the skin of my new classroom, colleagues, curriculum, and community. Quickly, I realized my opening day plans were slipping into traditional territory: Let’s make sure classroom expectations are clear from day […]
Writing with the James Webb Space Telescope
Ever since NASA began releasing images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, I’ve become reacquainted with my child self’s way of thinking about space–how every Milky Way diorama, every glow in the dark star sticker affixed to the ceiling, every classroom poster of those dusty, celestial bodies evoked deep wonder. Part of the joy […]
Writers as Content Creators: Building Ideas to Write On
This summer during Camp Rewrite, I had an illuminating conversation with Utah teacher John Arthur. In his sixth grade classroom, he frames everything students do as “content creation”. After all, Arthur said, this is what every kid wants to be — a content creator. An influencer. So, what would it look like if we reframed […]
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