There is a better way than teaching to district assessments and high-stakes college entrance exams. Though we may have to teach a type of formulaic writing, we don’t have to abandon the work that truly matters to our students. (continue reading)
I’ve been teaching and learning how to be a more effective teacher for most of my adult life. One thing I know for sure. Of all the factors that predict how well K-12 students do in learning to critically read, write and think, ongoing professional learning is the most vital. In fact, student learning and teacher expertise are inseparable. (continue reading)
To assess for independence, probably the most important assessment is observational: what do you notice when you sit back and simply watch. You might come up with a checklist to guide your observations, something that would work across subjects areas. (continue reading)
To honor our commitment to protect our authors’ voices and expertise, we are therefore updating the copyright pages of our books and products to include the following: (continue reading)
Read an excerpt from Chapter 7 of Lucy Calkins' new book for school leaders. In this chapter, you’ll find: ways to make time for teachers to plan together, tips to ensure collaborative groups go well, ways to anticipate and dissipate resistance, and more. (continue reading)
In this third Turn and Talk discussion, Ellin is joined by Linda Rief (The Quickwrite Handbook) and Sara Ahmed (Being the Change) as they share their stories of their teaching journeys, teacher autonomy, and student inquiry. (continue reading)
When students write Reading Responses about a text, they have something to say in class. It may be a minor point, or it may be a major point, but it is a concrete thought and it is tied to a specific part of the text. (continue reading)
At this point in the year, it’s important to take stock of how your students are progressing toward independence and whether it would be helpful to shine a light on this all-important focus. (continue reading)
In The Six Academic Writing Assignments, author Jim Burke aims to help better understand that nature of the academic writing assignments we give our students through the examination of these six different types of assignments we already give in one form or another. (continue reading)
Feedback is key to student learning. Since writing conferences are conversations between students and teachers, they provide opportunities for two types of feedback: student to teacher, and teacher to student. (continue reading)
