#featured – moving writers

April 9, 2021April 8, 2021Michael Ziegler

What Happens to Feedback When Conferring Gets Organized

Providing feedback that builds on conferring conversations can be a game changer…if you start keeping track of your conversations with writers!

March 25, 2021March 17, 2021Paige Timmerman

Beginning the Action Plan: Using YA Literature to Ignite Student Passion for Research

Image via Pixabay In my last post, I discussed a new approach I am taking to research writing this year. Instead of the traditional essay, I opted to go with a semester-long exploration of a social justice issue through multiple angles, with a research component being one of those angles. To review, Hope Kasten, my […]

March 19, 2021March 19, 2021Brett Vogelsinger

What Went Right?

I write this post coming off of a “grading high.” Assessing student work does not always leave me feeling cheerful and refreshed. There are times it leaves me feeling discouraged and plagued with questions: “What went wrong? How did so many of my students miss the mark on this skill?” But as we race into […]

February 25, 2021February 24, 2021Paige Timmerman

An Introduction to the Action Plan: Breaking Up with the Traditional Research Paper

Image via Pixabay If you found yourself clicking on this article, you probably don’t need a lecture on why the traditional “research paper” is problematic and downright painful to teach. My biggest reason for wanting to ditch it? The lack of passion. The lack of passion students have about writing it, the lack of passion […]

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021megankortlandt

Balancing Inquiry & Support in Professional Learning: A Lesson from Bean Dad

A little while back, a dad took to social media to pat himself on the back about the lesson he’d taught his daughter when she wanted to open a can of beans but didn’t know how to use the can opener and the Twitterverse collectively cringed. In case you were lucky enough to miss it, […]

February 19, 2021February 19, 2021Brett Vogelsinger

3 Keepers: Lessons I Hope to Keep From Hybrid Writing Instruction

After a few more deep breaths and some reflection, I’m ready to think about what I hope sticks from this time period we are all so eager to put behind us.

February 12, 2021February 11, 2021Michael Ziegler

The Conference That Will Change Their Life*

Conferring with writers about their next English class is as important as those writing conferences you love having with them–here’s some ideas for how to make them effective.

February 11, 2021February 10, 2021hattiemaguire

Conferring in a Sea of Black Boxes

In late January, I learned my second semester virtual AP English Language class would have 45 students. We are doing both hybrid and virtual and some students switched at the semester, so, naturally, things got a little wonky. It’s since shrunk to the oh-so-manageable 42, and, to be fair, my hybrid classes are teeny, so […]

January 31, 2021January 30, 2021Paige Timmerman

Books that Move Us: Pointless: An English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful Grading by Sarah Zerwin

If you’ve read any of my posts this year, you might notice a theme: I feel like I am constantly referencing Sarah Zerwin’s Pointless, which I read over the summer. I ordered it immediately upon reading the title, thinking, This is great! Maybe it will give me ideas for reducing the time I spend assessing […]

January 29, 2021January 30, 2021Brett Vogelsinger

Designing With Grammar

Teaching grammar is my instructional nemesis. I’m sure I am not alone in feeling this way. For nearly twenty years now, I have worked at teaching grammar in the context of writing, without skill-and-drill worksheets, and every year I tweak my approach, often some variation of Harry Noden’s creative Image Grammar approach. But it’s still […]