Two weeks ago, Laurie Schultz invited me to coach in her kindergarten writing workshop at John T. Waugh Elementary School in Lake Shore. I’m always grateful to work with Laurie. Her energy is incredible, and she sustains her compassion for even the most challenging kids in her care. She also maintains a high bar for her students, regardless of any label that’s been imposed on them. My Rationale: When we met to discuss the mini-unit…
Last week, I had the great fortune to coach research and information writing in Melanie Jones’s kindergarten class at John T. Waugh Elementary School in Lake Shore, New York. We were most interested in taking the Next Generation English Language Arts Standards for a drive by diving into play-based learning and exploring the effect that it had on rigor. First things came first, though: we needed an audience for students’ work! Thanks to my vibrant…
When I’m asked to get specific about what it means to MAKE writing, I often find myself sharing stories that underpin four of the largest lessons I learned from watching young writers: When we take the time to learn more about what kids love to build, paint, code, engineer, craft, create, and make we no longer have to define writing topics for them. They’re often thrilled to write about what they are making, for other…
This month, I’ll be celebrating the second birthday of Make Writing, the little book that could. When I wrote it, I never imagined that I would get to meet and learn from so many of you who I’ve come to call my colleagues and friends over the last two years. This has been a rewarding journey, and each bend in the road has surfaced new and important questions about making and writing and the relationship…
How might school leaders use this framework to design, launch, and work through varied iterations of their theories of change? How might teachers use this same framework to design, launch, and work through varied iterations of their curricular units and lessons? How might writers use this same framework to design, launch, and work through varied iterations of the pieces they are composing? How might makers use this same framework to design, launch, and work through varied iterations of…
Schools have become increasingly skilled at gathering data about learners–particularly quantitative data in the form of standardized and local test scores. But these data often fail to communicate the most essential information that teachers need in order to serve students well. These data help us develop hunches about what students struggle with. They don’t really help us understand why, though. This is why story matters. More than tools to engage listeners, story teaches all of us…
You know that kid: The one who walks wearily into the room, throwing himself into a seat and casting his eyes at the clock, the window, and the door. He’s counting the minutes until your class is over. He’s counting on you to just leave him alone. And when you don’t, he makes you pay for it. You pay for it in sideways glances, rolling eyes, and snickers. You pay for it in thirty requests…
Earlier this month, I began sharing the four ways I notice making enriching writing in the workshops that I facilitate and coach in. In my work, that’s what I’m constantly watching for and trying to inspire–making that enriches writing and moves writers forward rather than tempting them to evade the process entirely. This is why I love fire starters: Creative constraints that I bundle together and light at the start of each session. Each fire…
Consider complexity: Now, distinguish it from richness: I’m wondering….. ….about the relationship between complexity and richness. ….about the pursuit of complexity at the expense of richness. ….how complexity might contribute to richness. I’ve learned that….. Richness is equated with harmony and unity. Richness is about joyful productivity and gratification. Richness is abundance. Richness is brilliance. The near antonyms of richness are misery, torment, and tribulation. Over the last few years, I’ve begun…
On Tuesday, I shared a visual intended to help teachers conceptualize the whole of a writing workshop year before sharing a unit framework that middle level teachers might use to investigate social justice beside their students. Today, I’d like to show you the dashboard behind this kind of unit design. Those who have worked with me inside of writing workshops and studios are sometimes surprised to learn that I’m a fan of standards and other clear…