During my first year of teaching, I had a brilliant student named Joshua*. Joshua was a Junior who was wise beyond his years. He loved to talk about books. He loved to debate different topics in class. However, it wasn’t until we read the cult favorite, The Color Purple, during the first nine weeks when […]
secondary writing instruction
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Six Books for Secondary Teachers on Teaching Students to Write
Writing across the curriculum is not a new idea. In fact, for over a decade we have seen professional development and training about how to incorporate more writing in more content areas other than ELA. The National Writing Project (NWP) has been a leader in the pursuit of bringing more and better writing instruction to […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Struggles of Grading Writing: It’s the Process That Matters
I absolutely hate assigning a letter grade to student writing; it’s depressing. Not because my students are bad writers because they aren’t. It’s that I hate to see all the mini-lessons, and drafting, revising, editing, conversations, and growing as writers reduced to one letter. A percentage in the grade book. As soon as that grade is […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Literacy
My Philosophy for Secondary Writing Instruction
A while ago, I shared tips for grading writing. Now, I am sharing my philosophy about writing instruction in the secondary English classroom. What follows are four of my strongest-held beliefs. Give students an opportunity to improve Many students believe writing ends as soon as they turn in their final copy. (For many students, it […]