Welcome to a new year of content and conversation in our PLC Series. This month we focus on the craft of teaching writers—not the writing.

One of the most overwhelming pieces for teachers in a reading and writing workshop model is managing all of the moving parts. If writing workshop is new for you, it is likely that fears swirl into questions in your mind: Can they write on their own? How do I release control? How do coach my writers as individuals when there are so many of them?

Teacher and blogger Betsy Hubbard (@Betsy_Writes) shares her wisdom in this article, available for download below, from the Heinemann Digital Library.  She describes the roles of monitoring and conferring with writers, as well explains how these practices support each other. Reflecting on the notes that emerge from monitoring and conferring provide valuable information that inform both you as the teacher and the students as they work to build independence.

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Looking for more PD on this topic?

Online: This article is one of many available to you with a Digital Library Subscription. Find out more here!

Off-Site: Which authors are coming to your area for one day workshops? Click here to browse the list by region, author, or state.

On-Site: Take a look at school-based seminars, and consulting authors and speakers available to you by clicking here.

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  Betsy Hubbard (@BetsyWrites) Betsy Hubbard is a  kindergarten and first grade teacher. She is a co-author at  the blog Two Writing Teachers and also blogs at I Think in   Poems, Teaching Young Writers, and I’m Living My Words.