It’s funny how a few things in school remain mostly normal despite everything else feeling so strange this year. Like the annual arrival of National Honors Society nominations– it was a nice reminder of “normal” when a student in my Zoom last week asked if we could set up a breakout room so he could […]
I started this blog post two weeks ago when the big internet drama of the day was Bean Dad. That was just two weeks ago, my friends. I almost scrapped this whole post when I opened it up to finish it today because I’m certain he is long forgotten. BUT…the parallel I was drawing to […]
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do we provide students with the opportunities and space to write “sin miedo”? ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does it mean to write without fear? Where does fear come from in the context of writing in the classroom? What kinds of classroom traumas create or worsen this fear? How do we help […]
Welcome to 2021, dear readers! We hope that this new start finds you managing the stresses of this unique school year and getting vaccinated very soon! At Moving Writers, we are continuing to brainstorm ways that we can support you + put tools in your hands that will make you feel more effective in your […]
With a new year comes that familiar and distinct habit for many: profound reflection on the last 12 months. We swap out our calendars for new ones, we declare sentiments like new year, new me (partially in jest, partially in earnestness), and we commit ourselves to learning from our mistakes in pursuit of self-improvement. […]
I’ve been on a journey this fall to think about ways to move students toward increasing writing independence. We know mentor texts benefit writers of all ages. We know that isolating the moves writers make helps newer, less-experienced writers demystify the writing process and take their own work to new heights. But we also want […]
In fact, students often think of writing as an act of compliance – follow the teacher’s instruction, receive a passing grade.
Image via Pixabay They say when you turn off one of your senses, one or more of the others gets stronger. That’s what I love about teaching writing. The endlessness of possibilities for process means you get to start all over each time. Each time is an opportunity to focus on one of the “senses” […]
Mentor Text: The Poem Where I Lie About Everything by Rudy Francisco Techniques: Lying Making Your Audience Think Reflection Background – Let me start with a confession. December kicked my butt. We came into on the heels of report cards, and a heightened set of protocols in reaction to a second wave with record setting COVID […]
In my job as a literacy consultant, I work mostly with teachers and administrators, not students. While I sometimes miss the kids, I really love getting to serve the grown-ups in the system because we are all learners, and sometimes – heck, way too often – we spend all of our energy worrying about how […]
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