Thankfully, the tides are beginning to turn and more and more light is being focused on the best practices of teaching writing. There are lots of professional texts out there to help you grow your practice as a teacher of writers, but where do you begin?
These are a few of our favorites:
Joy Write by Ralph Fletcher (Heinemann, 2017):
In Joy Write, Fletcher introduces the concept of greenbelt writing, the kind of writing that returns a sense of passion and curiosity -- and joy!-- to the writing classroom. Fletcher advocates for allowing students to do more writing that is "free and unguided" and in doing so, they will discover that they, too, are writers.
Feedback That Moves Writers Forward by Patty McGee (Corwin Literacy, 2017):
Many of us remember the "red pen" of writing from when we were students. Some of us are still using that red pen today when we assess our own students' writing. If you are looking for a better way to confer and assess student writing, you must check out McGee's book. She shows you how to come to student writing from a strengths stance that looks for what is being done well and how to use those strengths to set new goals.