We started Moving Writers almost 7 years ago to help teachers and to start a bigger, broader conversation about teaching writing. We wanted to help classroom teachers and provide resources that would ultimately impact the education and lives of students. Of course, those goals can’t come to fruition until the voices on this site truly […]
In our writing classrooms, 2020 has been a year full of surprise. In Pennsylvania, we had a warm, nearly snowless winter and sudden, snappy late frosts in in the spring, so it’s been a year of surprises in the garden just outside my back door as well. Recently, I started taking some photos of striking […]
Dear readers, We’ve been promising that we would announce our summer professional development offerings on June 1, but that’s just not right today. We promise that information will be forthcoming soon, but right now we need to pause. We are saddened, horrified, and angered by the killing of unarmed Black men and women in this […]
Trigger Warning: this post opens with a possibly offensive rant. If you feel the need to skip said rant, I have inserted a subheading to indicate where it is safe to begin reading. When I first started this beat about starting over and about being more intentional with which practices we keep and which ones […]
Mentor Text – Bono’s Mash Notes to Songs He Loves Techniques: Expressing appreciation Audience Drafting Background – I’ve been using the phrase silver lining a lot lately. Mostly as a way to explain the moments I’ve enjoyed and appreciated as I figure out what it means to teach remotely during a pandemic. (To say nothing of […]
One key idea threads through my series this year about poetry as part of the writing process for other genres: poetry sharpens our diction. Frequent practice in reading and writing poetry tunes our eyes and ears to what works and does not work in our choice of words, the same way practicing guitar helps train […]
Our guest post today is from Amy Menzel who currently teaches English language arts at Waukesha West High School in Wisconsin. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Emerson College, and a Teacher Consultant with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Writing Project. You can reach her at almenzel@waukesha.k12.wi.us or connect with her on Twitter @mrs_menzel […]
The Feedback Dilemma The workshop model is built around giving students high-impact and timely feedback. Instead of writing comments on a graded paper, we get to work with students one-on-one or in small groups during the reading and writing process. As a result, students get that feedback when they need it, and they have time […]
Dear poetry-loving English teacher friends, Last week, we paused. We paused because the kids needed a pause, and we needed a pause. In every way, I think all of us are trying to find that happy medium right now between all and nothing. But here we are again — week 4, the final week of our poetry […]
Lindsay Bruggeman is a high school English teacher currently working toward her Masters of Arts in Teaching with the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University. You can reach her at lindsaybruggeman3@gmail.com or Twitter @MrsBruggemanLHS So, where do we go from here? We can start by holding on to the good bones of our classrooms. […]
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