Welcome to the June 9, 2018 edition of the Writing Round-Up, a weekly gathering of tips for teaching writing and for growing as a teacher-writer. We are glad you stopped by! For Teachers of Writers How Can Your Students Help YOU Become a Better Writer? That was the question I pondered when I guest posted on the Corwin Connect site this week. Read "6 Reasons Why Your Students Should Critique Your Writing" to hear my answer and to find out how powerful it is to let students pla

We all know that the more we do something, the better we become at doing it. We are all looking for ways to help our students grow as writers. One of the most important things we can do is to make sure they are getting enough time to write every day and that they are using their writing time to actually practice writing. According to the US Department of Education, kindergarten students should get at least 30 minutes of writing time every day. Starting in first grade, this nu

Writing can be a solitary experience. It is often just the writer and their words. But it doesn’t have to be that way — and I would argue that it shouldn’t be that way. Becoming a part of a tribe — a dedicated group that shares the same interests or focus and support in a safe, nurturing way — is what’s missing from the lives of many writers. Take a minute to think about your student-writers. Who do they connect with while working on their writing? Who do they go to to ask qu

Welcome back to the Writing Round-Up, a collection of some of our favorite finds about teaching writing and being a teacher who writes. We hope are ready to dive into some new learning because we've got some good things to share this week. Let's get started! For Teachers of Writers Who Are Your Students Writing For?: As a writer, keeping my audience in the forefront of my mind shapes the writing I do and motivates me to do my best work. Do students have this same opportunity?

Chances are good that when YOU sit down to write, you have an audience in mind. Is the same true for your students or do they only write for

Welcome to this week's Writing Round-Up, a gathering of some awesome ideas for teaching writing and growing your own writing habit. Thanks for stopping by! These past few weeks, the Round-Up has been focused on providing tips for growing your own writing habit. I encourage you to check out those posts that you can find here. The absolute BEST way to become a better writing teacher is to write yourself. If you need some more direction, please feel free to send me an email or

This week's Writing Round-Up features ideas about using wordless picture books as a writing genre, teaching your students to self-edit,

Too many kids today write for an audience of one -- the teacher. They prepare a one-and-don draft on a topic (probably not of their own choosing), turn it in, then get it back with a few comments or suggestions from the reader -- the teacher -- and sometimes, a grade. The exchange between writer and reader is fairly minimal. As a result, the writer is not fully invested in their product of writing. It may lack depth, emotion, and sometimes, correct grammar. Deep down, I think

Why does audience matter to student writers? Because when the audience expands beyond the teacher, student engagement and quality of writin