Questions Instructional Leaders Can Ask To Support Their ELA Teachers I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard or seen teachers complain about how they are expected to go to professional learning where the facilitators teach in ways that would never fly for classroom teachers. As someone who does an awful lot of facilitating […]
Tag: authentic writing
Getting Real with Rubrics: Providing More Authentic Opportunities with the College Essay
Think about how much thought goes into the creation of a rubric. There is so much to consider: How many criteria should it have? What are the appropriate criteria? How should each criteria be weighted? How should this rubric be set up? Should it have boxes, a checklist, or something else? These are big decisions […]
The Closet Project: Awakening Possibilities With Authentic Writing
If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know that I am a big advocate of creating authentic writing opportunities for students without losing the rigor of academic assignments. This is especially important for students who struggle with writing; real scenarios can give them the push they need to become motivated and invested in […]
The Most Essential School Supply (Plus 3 Instructional Practices to Make the Most of It!)
It’s that time of year. Yeah, we may sometimes feel like we’re in survival mode with eager tallies marking how many Mondays are left in the school year, but as much as we might be counting down, we’re also starting to plan ahead for next year. We’re waxing reflective and submitting school supply lists to […]
F.A.Q. (Or How to Take Ownership of Writing)
At my school district in Michigan, we’re in the home stretch. Just a few more days of instruction, and then we’ll be on our final exam schedule. So, for this post, I planned to write about creative lessons that will keep your class engaged and fresh throughout these dog days. From my past tense, […]
To Blog or Not to Blog: Blog!
As Moving Writers readers know, one of the central ideas behind this site is authentic writing—what does writing in the real and wild world look like (versus the sometimes too-tightly controlled world of our classrooms)? Over the years, I’ve come to believe that the more the writing I ask students to do in the classroom […]