by Amanda | May 3, 2023 | End of the Year, Management, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Student Motivation
In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, Amanda discusses how to handle apathetic and defiant students in the classroom. She shares her personal experience as a parent of a neurodivergent child and suggests a collaborative approach that involves building...
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 | 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 | 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 | 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...
by Amanda | Nov 18, 2018 | Beginners, Featured Post, Management, Podcast, Secondary Teachers
Many secondary teachers, like you, are beginning to realize the power of running their English classes using writing workshop. Maybe you keep seeing references to it on Pinterest or in Facebook groups. Maybe a teacher friend is trying it and finding success. Or maybe...
by Amanda | Aug 5, 2018 | Back to School, Management, Podcast
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...
by Amanda | Jul 30, 2018 | Back to School, Featured Post, Management, Podcast, Writing Independence
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...
by Amanda | Sep 5, 2017 | Back to School, Management, Mini Lessons, Podcast, Writing Units
This article 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, then this post is exactly what you’ve been...
by Amanda | Jul 17, 2017 | Back to School, Management, Podcast, Routines
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 important components of the workshop schedule...
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 | Nov 12, 2015 | Management
Teachers are masters of winging it. We are resourceful when put on the spot, it’s what makes this profession an art. Not only are teachers resourceful they are inventive, they have personality, values, ideas, passions, and creativity. All of this has a huge...
by Amanda | Nov 5, 2015 | Conferencing, Featured Post, Management
Writing conferences are the toughest part of the writing workshop class. If you are new to writing workshop don’t worry too much about the conferring at first. Just do your best to roam the room while students write with quick tips and encouraging statements....
by Amanda | Oct 22, 2015 | Differentiation, Management, Podcast
Teaching writing can be overwhelming to the max! The variety of writing skills students need to master and the multifaceted competencies and struggles our students exhibit can make your head spin! I’m not a fan of labeling students but over the course of twelve...
