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 to making both of these things happen! My mission is to make teachers' lives easier. I resigned from teaching because of COVID-19. After making this huge decision one question has been on my mind constantly...how can I help … [Read more...] about How to Quit Grading So Much…
Assessment
How I Cut My Grading Time by Ten Hours
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 there's always more to do. I decided to change things this year. This mindset had to go, in order to begin taking better care of myself. I know that by taking care of myself and reducing my workload I will be a more effective and happy mother, wife … [Read more...] about How I Cut My Grading Time by Ten Hours
ONE Crucial Thing You Might Not Be Doing When Planning Writing Units and How To Start Doing It!
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 the podcast episode above or watch the YouTube video below to find out the ONE thing you need to start doing in order to save time when planning but more importantly, to teach students what they actually need to … [Read more...] about ONE Crucial Thing You Might Not Be Doing When Planning Writing Units and How To Start Doing It!
13 Creative Assessment Ideas for Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening
English teachers often default to essays, quizzes and tests as assessments. Figuring out creative ways to assess beyond this can be challenging. So, I've teamed up with some of my favorite blogging friends (see who below) to come up with creative ways to assess students' skills as readers, writers, speakers and listeners! This article would not be possible without the innovative ideas of these amazing teacher bloggers. Be sure to click over to their websites because they have so many … [Read more...] about 13 Creative Assessment Ideas for Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening
10 Ways to Make Grading Writing Easier
Don't have time to read this article? Listen here! Grading hundreds of papers is the bane of an English teacher's existence. Don't get me wrong. I love being able to get a thorough look into the minds of my students and their writing abilities. Reading their writing can actually be quite pleasurable. It's slapping a letter grade onto that writing that has always bothered me. So in this article I'd like to go over ten things that have helped me make grading a much easier and satisfying … [Read more...] about 10 Ways to Make Grading Writing Easier
10 Ways to Publish Student Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide
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 this article I'll present many options for publishing student writing, materials you'll need, the steps you need to take in order to implement these options and the best resources I've found to support you in sharing your … [Read more...] about 10 Ways to Publish Student Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide
Writing Assessment Just Got Easier
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 attitudes, relationships and even our mood! This may be why I haven't written very much on this topic...it is just not my favorite thing. Assessing writing is subjective (whether you want to admit it or not). I feel it is kind of wrong to slap a grade on a piece of writing. … [Read more...] about Writing Assessment Just Got Easier