by Amanda | Feb 20, 2021 | Mindfulness, Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It Do you often feel overwhelmed with all you have to do? Maybe you feel scattered and aren’t sure what to focus your energy on. Mindfulness in your personal and professional life can most definitely help alleviate these anxieties. In...
by Amanda | Feb 3, 2021 | Mini Lessons, Podcast
Have you ever felt you weren’t supporting a group of students with writing? Maybe these students had IEPs, maybe they didn’t, maybe they were the students who turned in writing that was all over the place, spelling mistakes, run-on sentences, no paragraphs…you...
by Amanda | Jan 24, 2021 | Book Clubs, Discussion, Distance Learning, Podcast, Reading
113SHAREShare Tweet Pin It There are so many discussion tech tools available to teachers these days! Parlay, Jamboard, Back Channel, Voxer and even Google Slides and Docs can be used to facilitate discussions among students virtually. But, what...
by Amanda | Jan 15, 2021 | Podcast, Routines
Share Tweet Pin It I’m a goal setting master. However, like many other humans out there (maybe you?), I lose motivation quickly and eventually my goals disappear into the ether only to be heard of again when it’s time to make a change and set a new...
by Amanda | Nov 4, 2020 | Equity, Mentor Texts, Podcast, Social Justice
Share Tweet Pin It Our classrooms are microcosms of the society we live in. The sad reality (that many have a hard time admitting) is race matters in our society and it matters in our classrooms. The majority of teachers in America are white and female....
by Amanda | Oct 3, 2020 | Assessment, Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It 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...
by Amanda | Aug 2, 2020 | Back to School, Distance Learning, Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It 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...
by Amanda | Jul 27, 2020 | Back to School, Distance Learning, Podcast
266SHAREShare Tweet Pin It 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...
by Amanda | Feb 2, 2020 | Book Clubs, Management, Podcast, Reading
Share Tweet Pin It 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...
by Amanda | Jan 19, 2020 | Beginners, Conferencing, Differentiation, Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It Does this sound like you? You learn a new idea, a new way of teaching, a new strategy and you’re all in. You become so convinced THIS is the way to go about things from now on! But, this energy to change everything all at once...
by Amanda | Jan 15, 2020 | Assessment, Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It 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...
by Amanda | Dec 22, 2019 | Assessment, Differentiation, Podcast, Writing Units
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...
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 | Sep 22, 2019 | Podcast, Secondary Teachers
Quitting programs. I’ve followed and quit so many programs in my life! Diets, work out routines, parenting guides, teaching curriculum. Programs are everywhere we turn. Dictionary.com defines “program” as: a plan of action to accomplish a specified...
by Amanda | Aug 18, 2019 | Management, Podcast, Writing Independence
156SHAREShare Tweet Pin It 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:...