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 state of the world requires we simplify what we normally do. This is exactly why we should continue doing workshop... I've been arguing for years that workshop makes teaching simple! At this point, you might be thinking, … [Read more...] about How to Teach Reading and Writing Workshop from a Distance
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Distance Learning Community Building Activities for Middle and High School
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 learning community building activities for middle school and high school students. We can do this by giving them opportunities to share their personal lives, interests, passions, fears, hurts, mistakes, happy places, funny moments, and … [Read more...] about Distance Learning Community Building Activities for Middle and High School
Your First Mini Lesson of the School Year: How Workshop is Like Playing Fortnite Battle Royale
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 worry...in this article you'll find the tools you need to do all of these things in one class period and with one mini lesson! You will accomplish four things during your very first mini lesson of the school year: Students … [Read more...] about Your First Mini Lesson of the School Year: How Workshop is Like Playing Fortnite Battle Royale
5 Fun Activities to do with Your Students the Day After Coming Back from a Long Break
Don't have time to read? Listen to this post here... Coming back to school after having two weeks off (or the summer off) can be really rough for students and teachers. The last thing anyone wants to do is get right back to work the first day back. It's important for us to reconnect with our students, have some fun and listen to what they've been up to the last few weeks/months. Here are five activities that can help you do just that! 1. Share Pictures/Videos If you teach middle or high … [Read more...] about 5 Fun Activities to do with Your Students the Day After Coming Back from a Long Break
5 Super Fun, Simple Games to Play with Your Class…Whenever!
Sometimes we just need to have fun with our students and what better way than with simple classroom games? Having fun is important for many reasons some of which include: it builds community, it's a stress reliever, it fosters respect for the teacher (students are much more likely to want to please a teacher they like). Below you'll find a round up of my favorite simple games to play with students any time of the year! Questions This game is so simple and super entertaining. Have two … [Read more...] about 5 Super Fun, Simple Games to Play with Your Class…Whenever!
What I’m doing the very first day of school might surprise you…and why you should try it too.
I let students socialize the first day of school. Read on to find out why... After reading this important article by Write On with Miss G (which I highly recommend you read), I thought back to my first day of school, last year. Here's what's written in my plan book 8/14/2017: introduce self, read My Name by Sandra Cisneros, go over routines/procedures and record names. The last activity, "record names" ended up being brilliant. Originally, I just planned to record names of students who felt … [Read more...] about What I’m doing the very first day of school might surprise you…and why you should try it too.
10 Reasons Secondary Teachers Should Try Reading & Writing Workshop
Don't have time to read this article? Listen on iTunes instead! We all have our own curriculum, our own teaching teams, our own way of doing things but it's summer vacation and time to ponder other options! This article is meant for secondary teachers who are on the fence about whether to try reading and writing workshop in their class next year. Below you'll find ten convincing (I hope) reasons why you should definitely give workshop a chance! Before I start going into why you … [Read more...] about 10 Reasons Secondary Teachers Should Try Reading & Writing Workshop
My Students Don’t Write During Writing
Don't have time to read all of this?!?! Listen below:) So, some of your students aren't writing during writing? Maybe they are just sitting there staring off into space. Or maybe they are sneaking onto their phone, they'll probably tell you they were looking up a word on thesaurus.com. Or maybe they are whispering with a friend, about...who knows what? It is aggravating, isn't it!?! You work so hard and these rascals could care less! The thing we need to remember is that … [Read more...] about My Students Don’t Write During Writing