by Amanda | Nov 4, 2020 | Equity, Mentor Texts, Podcast, Social Justice
Our classrooms are microcosms of the society we live in. The sad reality (that many have a hard time admitting) is race matters in our society and it matters in our classrooms. The majority of teachers in America are white and female. Schools and neighborhoods are...
by Amanda | Oct 3, 2020 | Assessment, Podcast
Amanda Write Now · How To Quit Grading So Much And Make It More Meaningful So, you want to know how to quit grading so much? Or maybe you just want your grading process to be more systematic and meaningful for students. Well, reading this blog post is the first step...
by Amanda | Aug 2, 2020 | Back to School, Distance Learning, Podcast
Amanda Write Now · How To Teach Reading And Writing Workshop From A Distance Many teachers are wondering, can I still teach reading and writing workshop from a distance? The quick answer is… absolutely! Whether you want to admit it or not, the current...
by Amanda | Jul 27, 2020 | Back to School, Distance Learning, Podcast
Amanda Write Now · 15 Community Building Distance Learning Activities Middle Schoolers Will LOVE! Students in our class need to feel that their unique voices, opinions, and experiences matter. In this article, you’ll get inspiration and ideas for distance...
by Amanda | Feb 2, 2020 | Book Clubs, Management, Podcast, Reading
Managing a book club unit is tough! Some teachers may feel so overwhelmed by all the moving pieces that they avoid book clubs altogether. This is completely understandable. During a book club unit, students are reading different books, analyzing a wide range of...
by Amanda | Jan 19, 2020 | Beginners, Conferencing, Differentiation, Podcast
Does this sound like you? You learn a new idea, a new way of teaching, a new strategy and you’re all in. You become so convinced THIS is the way to go about things from now on! But, this energy to change everything all at once eventually wears off and...
by Amanda | Jan 15, 2020 | Assessment, Podcast
I teach 4 sections of English with a total of 128 students. Grading that many papers every few months is a huge endeavor and can overtake a person’s life! In my 13 years as a teacher, I’ve never been able to kick that nagging feeling that...
by Amanda | Dec 22, 2019 | Assessment, Differentiation, Podcast, Writing Units
Teachers are SUPER busy during the school year and need to be efficient when planning new writing units. It is absolutely necessary to find ways to save time. The thing is you are most likely missing one huge step before you even begin planning your lessons. Listen to...
by Amanda | Dec 8, 2019 | Management, Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Writing Independence
We all have resistant writers in our classrooms. This is a fact of teaching life. In the video below learn 13 different ways that you can help resistant writers become much more motivated. Not all of these ways will work. You need to try different combinations with...
by Amanda | Sep 22, 2019 | Podcast, Secondary Teachers
Quitting programs. I’ve followed and quit so many programs in my life! Diets, work out routines, parenting guides, teaching curriculum. Programs are everywhere we turn. Dictionary.com defines “program” as: a plan of action to accomplish a specified...
by Amanda | Aug 18, 2019 | Management, Podcast, Writing Independence
I get a lot of emails every week asking a wide range of questions. One question that seems to come up over and over again is, what does workshop actually look like in a secondary classroom? Here’s the simple answer: workshop can look however you want it to look....
by Amanda | Jul 14, 2019 | Back to School, Mini Lessons, Podcast
There are so many things we need to accomplish the first week of school. We need to get to the content but we also need to teach students about how our class will run and build relationships and community too. Now you may feel a bit overwhelmed at this point. Not to...
by Amanda | May 5, 2019 | Book Review, Podcast
In this article you will get access to life changing podcasts and books for teachers! First, let’s start with a story… During the summer of 2018 I was feeling extremely overwhelmed and depressed. It was the much anticipated summer break and I was overcome...
by Amanda | Apr 13, 2019 | Management, Podcast
Kids love to talk to each other, they are human and humans are social! In a classroom of thirty plus secondary students how can we balance allowing that innate need to talk with maintaining a quiet, productive atmosphere? The answer: noise levels. If you are a middle...
by Amanda | Mar 17, 2019 | Management, Podcast, Writing Independence
Teaching writing is so hard! There are many reasons why, but one of the main reasons is distracting student behavior! With a plan in place, your ability to handle the distracting student behavior can improve. No matter what though, it is important to realize that...