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Writing portfolios are a powerful assessment tool.

Assessment has played a big role in my shifts as a writing teacher. Colleagues have helped me get there. Come see my journey of the people in my life who have not only impacted the writers in my classroom but have impacted myself as a teacher. Assessment strengthens all of us when done right!

I'll be honest. I actually love on-demand writing assessments.

We teachers keep all kinds of records and notes- attendance records, records of the books our students read, records about math concepts mastered, and spelling words missed. Yet, many of us struggle to… Continue reading →

Join me as I imagine how a parent/teacher conversation about writing assessments might go...

Assessment serves several purposes, and when used intentionally, can drive instruction in meaningful ways for our learners.

  Over the next seven days, my friends and I here at Two Writing Teachers will share important concepts around assessment in writing workshops. We have all given a lot of thought to our best… Continue reading →

How might you use writing to tap into your personal passions? Are you writing a piece that makes you "ache with caring"? And in a chock-full, busy-every-minute life, how can educators find time for writing that is deeply meaningful, with the lens of replicating this experience for students?

One way to become a community of writers is to leave thoughtful feedback.

Meet Pablo and take an adventure in Delphine Perret's book as he travels the world!

A wise person once told me, conferring is the heart of the writing workshop. And much has been written about how to go about conferring effectively. Guides and professional books abound, videos, websites… Continue reading →

Whenever I pull a small group for a lesson, there are some important guidelines I try to remember and follow.

My time at the New York State English Council (NYSEC) Conference through snapshots!

I’ve made my share of confessions here on this blog. I wrote about my struggle to keep a notebook here and here. There’s more. Now that school is in full swing, making time… Continue reading →

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Last week I promised to share student work and my reflections after a week of Getting Kids Excited About Writing. As I listened to teachers, talk about… Continue reading →

Elevate the experience of using talk within your workshop with some tools.

Contests and publication opportunities for young writers have potential to motivate and inspire.

Last week, I wrote about the step back our kindergarten teachers took as they launched writing workshop this year. And I admitted to you that the children were not writing, they were drawing… Continue reading →

Next Thursday, October 20th, is the National Day on Writing! Are you ready? Read on for some ideas on how to mark this day with your writers.

So how do we help these young storytellers bring their stories to paper? How do we show them these are the stories writers write? I think we begin by getting our kids excited, really excited, like "I can do this, let me write NOW! Excited.

Asking my students to set their own goals creates one more opportunity for each of them to be in charge of their learning and reflect on their growth as a writer.

A short and sweet reminder, from a student point-of-view.

In a recent post about small group instruction, I wrote about ways to group students who need instruction on a similar strategy. Sometimes, we form small groups ahead of time through careful planning. However,… Continue reading →

Sometimes the most effective way to help writers leap ahead, is to slow things down and take a step back.

Author Cindy Jenson-Elliot answer questions about her newest book, Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, A Life in Nature. Comment for a chance to win a copy of this beautiful book that is destined to be one of your mentor texts!