by Amanda | Sep 5, 2017 | Back to School, Management, Mini Lessons, Podcast, Writing Units
6.2kSHAREShare Tweet Pin It This blog post outlines exactly what I did to launch both reading and writing workshop in my classroom. If you are an English teacher wanting to teach using the writing and reading workshop model,...
by Amanda | Aug 6, 2017 | Assessment, Featured Post, Publishing, Technology, Writing Units
Publishing student writing is the cornerstone of a successful writing workshop program. At the beginning of each of my writing units I tell students they will write many different drafts within a writing genre and pick one to revise intensely and then to publish. In...
by Amanda | Jul 30, 2017 | Back to School, Featured Post, Technology, Videos
2.4kSHAREShare Tweet Pin It PowToon is a fun and fairly easy video creation tool for teachers and students. The company already has an excellent blog post about how teachers can utilize this tool in their classrooms here. This blog post is about how...
by Amanda | Jul 17, 2017 | Back to School, Management, Podcast, Routines
1.8kSHAREShare Tweet Pin It Every teacher on the planet knows that the first weeks of school are all about routines, routines, routines and more routines. But, over time so many routines in our classrooms go overlooked. This guide discusses five...
by Amanda | Jun 9, 2017 | Podcast, Technology
1.4kSHAREShare Tweet Pin It Ever spend hours looking for YouTube videos to teach writing? Youtube channels for writing teachers are hard to find! YouTube is an incredible resource bank for writing teachers…but sometimes it can be annoying to sift...
by Amanda | Apr 20, 2017 | Assessment
Share Tweet Pin It I’m going to be honest here. In my opinion, writing assessment is the worst part of a writing teacher’s job. As objective as we try to be while assessing with rubrics and checklists, grading writing is subject to our...
by Amanda | Mar 22, 2017 | Podcast, Research
290SHAREShare Tweet Pin It Researching online is easier than ever. But, thoughtlessness is easier than ever too! Classrooms are transforming. They are spending more and more time learning online. This is why it is vital we read articles like this with...
by Amanda | Feb 2, 2017 | Argumentative Writing, Make Writing Fun, Mini Lessons, Podcast, Support for Struggling Writers, Videos
Students are glued to their media…YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are the top apps used by secondary kids. As educators our job is to engage our students in the process of learning and what better way is there to engage than through video?!?! In this...
by Amanda | Dec 29, 2016 | Technology
261SHAREShare Tweet Pin It Okay, let’s be honest here. Everyone Googles everything. Am I right? Hence, the need to teach students how to “Google” properly. Googling has taken over past research practices such as going to the...
by Amanda | Dec 2, 2016 | Holiday Writing
118SHAREShare Tweet Pin It Before your pants are covered in green glitter and your classroom floor is littered with candy cane wrappers, make sure to check out these holiday writing activities! Narrative Writing Activities Possible Key Terms for These...
by Amanda | Nov 18, 2016 | Mini Lessons
121SHAREShare Tweet Pin It Many teachers think mini lessons are a way to teach writing or reading skills. THAT IS NOT TRUE! We should all be teaching behavior mini lessons too. Go directly to videos you can use with your writing class today by clicking...
by Amanda | Nov 4, 2016 | Podcast, Writing Units
Share Tweet Pin It Most secondary teachers I know, wonderful teachers who are friends of mine by the way, teach information/expository writing using essay assignments. Here’s how it usually goes: Read & annotate articles Write an essay in...
by Amanda | Oct 13, 2016 | Writing Units
Share Tweet Pin It Planning a unit can be time consuming but it doesn’t have to be. Planning a unit can actually be quite simple, especially if you plan as you go, based on the needs of the students in front of you. Below you’ll find 5 tips...
by Amanda | Sep 8, 2016 | Technology
223SHAREShare Tweet Pin It Student E-Portfolios are an easy and engaging way to demonstrate growth and learning. But, what exactly are they and how do you make them happen in your classroom? E-Portfolios are websites that contain pages which show...
by Amanda | Aug 9, 2016 | Mini Lessons
676SharesShare Tweet Pin It What do you write in your plan book the first month of school, how about the first week? If you took a peek at my plan book you’d find mini lesson titles, mentor text lists, scheduled assessments, deadlines, unit plan...