by Amanda | Jan 6, 2023 | Assessment, Equity, Make Writing Fun, Podcast, Support for Struggling Writers, Technology
In the last few weeks I’ve been playing with, talking to teacher friends, reading articles, and thinking about one thing… Chat GPT. I learned about this new AI tool in early December through a Facebook Group post that had 100+comments. The comments scared...
by Amanda | Oct 19, 2022 | Equity, Make Writing Fun, Podcast, Social Justice, Support for Struggling Writers, Writing Independence
Share Tweet Pin It Every classroom has struggling writers. There are many reasons young writers struggle during our writing units. They may feel overwhelmed, be uninterested, have writing skill deficits because of past experiences with writing,...
by Amanda | Jan 26, 2019 | Make Writing Fun, Podcast, Writing Units
213SharesShare Tweet Pin It Table of contents: Give Student ChoiceMake it a ContestThrow a PartyPublish Student WritingUse Last Resort Tactics So you want to excite students about your upcoming writing unit? Before I wrote this post I asked some 7th and...
by Amanda | Dec 26, 2018 | Back to School, Holiday Writing, Make Writing Fun, Podcast
2.9kSharesShare Tweet Pin It 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...
by Amanda | Dec 21, 2018 | Back to School, End of the Year, Make Writing Fun, Secondary Teachers
1.6kSharesShare Tweet Pin It 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...
by Amanda | Aug 26, 2018 | Featured Post, Make Writing Fun, Podcast, Writing Units
Don’t Have Time to Read? Fiction writing is neglected in English classes everywhere for many reasons. We don’t have enough time. Or we are afraid students might produce pages and pages and pages and we feel too guilty about not reading all of...
by Amanda | Apr 28, 2018 | End of the Year, Make Writing Fun, Podcast
The end of the school year can be chaotic, so keeping students engaged and having fun is incredibly important. I have used the project detailed here every year I’ve taught and it never fails to keep students loving their school work and writing until the very...
by Amanda | Feb 4, 2018 | Holiday Writing, Make Writing Fun, Reading
Teaching students how to identify themes in literature can be challenging! It takes a lot of abstract thought which students may not even be capable of yet. Why not use the Valentine’s Day holiday to your advantage? Often, themes in literature involve...
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 | May 13, 2016 | Make Writing Fun, Management, Mini Lessons
Welcome back! This is part three of a series revealing the truth about writing with mini lessons! In each blog post I provide a mini lesson you can use with your class to discuss topics all students think about but rarely get the chance to talk about in their...
by Amanda | Apr 14, 2016 | Make Writing Fun, Mini Lessons
Welcome back for part two of this three part series revealing the truth about writing with mini lessons! In each blog post I provide a mini lesson you can use with your class to discuss topics all students think about but rarely get the chance to talk about in their...
by Amanda | Mar 17, 2016 | Make Writing Fun, Podcast
Are you a writing teacher who wants to instill a love of writing in your students but aren’t sure how? Yes, teaching standards is important and students need to be college and career ready, but that doesn’t mean we have to suck the fun out of writing, does...
by Amanda | Dec 17, 2015 | Featured Post, Make Writing Fun
Do your students moan and groan when it is time for writing? Does it make you sick to your stomach when that happens? Does it make you feel like you are failing as a writing teacher? You are not alone! Believe me, it happens to the best of us. It is not you! Remember...
