The Un-Perfect Classroom

I was one of three new kids in my bunk at camp in 1989.  The rest of the girls who were in my bunk had been together for a few years and were known for getting perfect tens on daily bunk inspections.  That summer, I was the kid who made my bunk get nines, rather [...]

Words that are Speaking to Me + Something Cool

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. — Attributed to Groucho Marx And make sure to check out these FREE SUMMER READING PRINTABLES. Don’t be fooled by the word summer, I can totally envision using some of these ideas in classrooms. Check it [...]

GUEST BLOG POST: The Journey

Caroline Gonzalez currently works as an Instructional Support teacher for grades 1-3 in South Brunswick NJ.  After 21 years of teaching, she is completing coursework to attain an Administrator’s License.  She is the proud mother of three children who is entering a new stage in my life as she prepare to send her child off [...]

Say What You Mean: Part Two

Tammi Myers wrote the following on our Facebook Page in response to the post I wrote on Tuesday: Sometimes we repeat jargon with the goal of being consistent with other grade levels- but that just gives us a class of kids who can parrot the terms with no real understanding. Tammi makes an excellent point.  [...]

“The Mind Flip”

Yesterday, Deb Day wrote a Slice about the way her brain “flips” and is ready for school. It resonated with me. I understood exactly what she was talking about and expect it will happen soon for me. The past few summers I’ve spent time in the days leading up to starting school saying So Long [...]

Say What You Mean: Part One

One September, I was creating a chart with my students about the things good writers do.  They said things like “good writers write long and strong” and “they add details.”  I was initially impressed.  These kids seemed to know some of the things it took to be a strong writer.  But then, I conferred with [...]

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{Discover. Play. Build.} Character Wants

One of the best ways to get to know characters (or people in general) is to figure out what they want. Often these wants drive our stories Whether you are crafting a fiction story or living your own story, wants are a motivator for actions and choices. Today’s {Discover. Play. Build.} challenge is focused around [...]

Say, Sketch, and Write

One of the many charts I made, with the help of some wonderful Kindergarten teachers, while I was taking Kristi Mraz’s chart-making class at the July Writing Institute was a scaffold to get Kindergarten students ready to write an all-about book.  Betsy Engel, who will be teaching Kindergarten in Manhattan this-coming school year, shared a [...]

Words that are Speaking to Me

It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?  For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone.  That is where the writer scores over his fellows:  he catches the changes [...]

GUEST BLOG POST: Savor a Book: Reading like a Writer

Edited by Ruth: Pssst…today is Mary Helen’s birthday! Won’t you join me in leaving comments on her blog post about one of her very favorite books? Mary Helen Gensch is currently a literacy coach and Title I interventionist for Pierceton Elementary School in Indiana. Her journey as a writing coach began with the AllWrite!!! Consortium [...]

Simple Shapes Convey Meaning

I have a confession to make: I’m a wanna-be artist.  I have a deep appreciation for art and for people who can draw the human form.  Until last month, I couldn’t even draw a decent stick figure.  As a result, my classroom charts as a teacher were neatly written, and sometimes color-coded, but they rarely [...]

Google Reader

Do you read a lot of blogs? Ever wish the posts would come to you instead of you going to them? If you’ve not already met Google Reader, I’d like to introduce you. Say hello to Google Reader… Google Reader allows me to manage a high volume of blog reading. It saves time because I [...]

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{Discover. Play. Build.} More on Maps

Last week… Stacey blogged about updating heart maps. (See everything we’ve blogged about heart maps here.) B. blogged about hand lists. I was reminded about writing close to the bones. I kept thinking about my slice of life pepperoni pizza. Aren’t these just fancy lists? you may be wondering. The short answer is yes. But [...]

Facebook Event Wrap-Up

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s Stenhouse/Two Writing Teachers Facebook Event.  It was great to receive so much positive feedback on our Facebook Page from all of you. In case you missed last week’s event, you can still check out all five of the downloadable, printable writing tips, which will continue to [...]

Facebook Event – Day 5

Our Stenhouse Facebook Event concludes today with a final downloadable and printable writing tip is entitled “Record-Keeping Systems That Make Sense for You.” You can find this tip on our Facebook Event.  Here’s what you need to do to participate: 1)  Go to our Facebook Page.  Click on the link that will take you to [...]

GUEST BLOG POST: Say It Like a Writer

Karren Colbert is an educational consultant and founder of Write Brained Learning.  She works with elementary teachers across the country and also presents at state and national conferences. Karren blogs at The Write Brained Teacher and occasionally tweets @karrencolbert. This is a story of a boy named Alex. Maybe you know him. He is the boy [...]

Updating Your Map

The navigation system I have in my car is three years old.  Considering there’s been a great deal of construction in an area I travel to frequently, my GPS doesn’t do a great job getting me around that area.  I know I have to update my navigation system because of this, but I don’t want [...]

Facebook Event – Day 4

Our Stenhouse Facebook Event continues today.  Today’s downloadable, printable writing tip is entitled “Organizing Teacher-Written Mentor Texts.”  This tip will help you create a system, using hard copies or electronic files, for organizing YOUR writing that you share with students. You can find this tip on our Facebook Page.  Here’s what you need to do [...]

Facebook Event – Day 3

Our Stenhouse Facebook Event continues today.  Today’s downloadable, printable writing tip is entitled “Classroom Writing Center.”  This tip will help you create or renovate a space where students can access materials during writing workshop. You can find this tip on our Facebook Page.  Here’s what you need to do to participate in our Facebook Event. [...]

Facebook Event – Day 2

Our Stenhouse Facebook Event continues today.  Today’s downloadable, printable writing tip is entitled “Collecting Bits of Life.” You can find this tip on our Facebook Page.  Here’s what you need to do to participate in our Facebook Event. 1)  Go to our Facebook Page.  Click on the link that will take you to the Stenhouse [...]

Building Community Through the Slice of Life Story Challenge

It’s always a pleasure to meet other Slicers in person.  On July 1st, I had coffee with two other slicers, one of whom (Kelly) I met last year at the Writing Institute and one of whom I had the pleasure of meeting (Tisha)  this year.  (Do check out her new blog, Middle Minds.) When I [...]

Facebook Event – Day 1

Our Stenhouse Facebook Event begins today and we hope you’ll join us.  This week we’ll be sharing five downloadable, printable writing tips to get you thinking about the writing workshop you will lead during the upcoming school year.  Today’s tip is entitled “Creating a List of Classroom Expectations.” You can find the first of the [...]

Record-Keeping Forms

Ever since I took Carl Anderson‘s course, “Assessment-Based Writing Instruction: Use a study of Student Work to Generate Goals and Systems for Recording Progress Towards Those Goals,” I’ve been thinking a lot about student goals for writing and record-keeping.  While everyone (likely) has writing goals for their students, I wonder how often we use two [...]