Tag: teaching writing
-
Daily Writing vs Daily Blogging: Slice of Life #sol18 26/31
In December, I challenged myself to better my mornings and, perhaps, my whole day. Instead of opening my laptop and starting the mindless scroll of social media over coffee every morning, I wondered if starting the day with quiet writing and reading time would feel restorative and centering. The short answer: yes. YES. This month,…
-
A Writing Life Requires Bravery
Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows that I have a wee obsession with Deborah Freedman’s picture book, The Story of Fish & Snail. The art is crazy good, but it’s the message that makes it a favorite title to share with pre-service teachers: Be brave. Leap. Or, in the words of the wonderful Deborah Freedman,…
-
Freewriting Without Tears: How to Build a Classroom Practice of Powerful Freewriting
Ok, so no actual tears have ever been involved with freewriting for me. But I did think about crying when I observed one of my student teachers mind-wrestling with her students in back-to-back classes over what they should do during freewriting. She read a picture book, If You’re Not From the Prairie, aloud to them,…
-
What Pre-Service Teachers Really Need to Know About Teaching Writing
One of my colleagues invited me to teach his Theory & Practice of Teaching Writing course last week. This is a required methods course for pre-service teachers. I wasn’t sure what the class had been doing or what would be most beneficial to them, so I started things off by asking them to write down their…
-
Storify: #NCTE13 Recap in Tweets
I have arranged my tweets and retweets from #NCTE13 to tell a particular story of my learning at the conference: [View the story “#NCTE13 Recap ” on Storify]
-
What Helps Me Write
I’ve been thinking about how to invite the pre-service English teachers I work with to become working writers who are able to bring their own writing processes and products into their classrooms. In the spirit of Will Richardson’s advice to teachers to become master learners in their classrooms, I’ve been thinking about the conditions, routines, habits,…
the dirigible plum 