Long after I had moved to a workshop-style classroom, I couldn’t shake a very typical writing-class problem: kids didn’t write. Well, they did, but they still didn’t write until the very last minute, procrastinating and frozen until the assignment was due. Sure, I’d dutifully teach mini-lessons, but then, instead of writing, students would stare, doodle, […]
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.
Mentor Text: from Empty Spaces by Jordan Abel Techniques: Background – I’m stepping out of holiday mode long enough to drop this here for you. Both a colleague and I picked up Jordan Abel’s Empty Spaces to read early in December. It’s a hell of a text, an effort to explore modern Indigenous identity through a […]
Mentor Text: Excuse Me As I Kiss The Sky by Rudy Francisco Techniques: Background – I am one of the teachers that teaches right until December 22nd. And we’ve got our provincial assessment back this year, which takes place the week we return from the holiday break. And I’m a parent with a couple of kids […]
Source Christmas is my favorite season. I love this time of year because I pride myself on being a great gift giver. There is no greater satisfaction in life than watching my loved one open their gift and the look of surprise, mixed with confusion wash over their face as they look up at me […]
Mentor Text: McSweeney’s Bingo Cards by various Techniques: Background – So, I often take a quick social media brain break at lunch. And today, after discussing the initial planning stages of some essay work with two of my classes, McSweeney’s sharing the “NIMBY Public Comment Bingo” card got me thinking a little bit.
This year, I’ve been making a point to try new and engaging ways to offer mini lessons to my students. In my last post, I discussed how I used samples from my students’ warm-up writing project to help students elevate their sentences. My next creative idea came during homecoming week on “Barbenheimer Day,” where students […]
This year, I’ve been making a point to try new and engaging ways to offer mini lessons to my students. In my last post, I discussed how I used samples from my students’ warm-up writing project to help students elevate their sentences. My next creative idea came during homecoming week on “Barbenheimer Day,” where students […]
by Kelly E. Tumy It’s my birthday today, so I thought I’d post one of the most favorite lessons I taught-ever! It really started out not as a lesson, so let me explain. I do love poetry; it took me a while to develop a good way to teach it to any grade level, though. […]
Honoring the in-between–those stretches of time between reading a story and writing about it–requires respect for how idea inspiration may arise. Conditions that advance the writing life involve elements that nurture the “seeds”: nurture prewriting time. Soil: space and time rituals for turning over the memory fossils in the ground. Air: room to let the […]
moving writers 