I’m excited to announce the release of my new book, The Writing Teacher’s Guide to Pedagogical Documentation (Routledge, 2024). This book offers a peek into the practices I used to compose all of my other books, as well as introductions to friends in education whose own learning stories I value much. Angelique Thompson and Kenisha Bynoe are two of those educators, and they’re celebrating a book birthday, too. Early reading coaches for the Toronto District…
Opening Camp Rewrite for its First Season of Summer Learning Last night, I wrapped the last of the professional learning experiences I’ve been facilitating during this school year, and it was a perfect sort of segue into the summer. I met with colleagues I’ve been learning beside for years, and we spent much of our time together talking about the memories we keep as practitioners. We spoke about the moments we try to hold onto,…
The last two years have been a challenge for everyone, including me. But Lauren Davis, my incredible editor from @routledgeeoe, gave me much to feel hopeful about. She gave me much to focus my energies around, too. Last week, I learned that both of these beauties are now in production. The 6-12 version is available for pre-order now, and the elementary version is soon to follow. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have…
This week, it was my privilege to process the whole of this strange and chaotic year in the company of other teachers who–despite that reality–deepened their professional learning relative to making and writing and all things multimodal composition. I wanted to create an experience that was as much about them as it would be about the writers they serve. I wanted to offer questions and invitations that would resonate and center everyone while offering an…
Here’s a quick last call before the doors close on a few of my professional learning opportunities in June. Click on the links below to learn more about each one. I’ll let everyone know when things open for July and August, too! Important details about pricing: Individual, self-paying teachers who choose the asynchronous option when they register and pay in full for my Multimodal Composition course below (which is $100), will receive a free upgrade…
Jody Shipka’s Toward a Composition Made Whole has been good company this month. If you’re in the process of reexamining your understanding of what it means to write or teach writing well, you will appreciate her wisdom. It runs deep. I couldn’t help but reflect on this reality as I was reading, too: So often, our efforts to get beyond print in our writing classrooms and workshops are complicated by misguided understandings and applications of…
I’m an instructional designer and an independent education consultant, as most of you know. In that latter role, I am typically hired to facilitate opportunity chasing and problem solving. I usually work with K-16 writing teachers who tend to be a highly creative bunch, and it’s rare that I don’t find myself learning more than I teach inside of any situation that finds me in rooms with these people. I get to have a lot…
“I just ordered my first box of those weird under eye gel patch thingies that everyone from Rachel Hollis to Oprah to Brene Brown seems to be sporting on social lately,” I laughed, leaning away from the screen. “I mean, if Brene uses them, they have to be good, right?” “Do they sell them in extra-strength Covid-size?” my friend asked. “There is no eye gel patch thingy made for this moment,” I admitted. “But buying…
An important note, ahead of today’s post: There are different kinds of writing workshop teachers, in my experience: Those who are wanting a clearer path, those who are walking one (often in very good company), and those whose rich and varied experiences have called them to wander a bit, even as they carve a careful course for their students. And in an ideal world, with their students. Those are the workshop teachers whose wisdom inspires…
I’ve spent this entire week traveling all over Alberta, Canada. I’ve worked with primary and intermediate level teachers, and I’ve worked with middle and high school teachers. I’ve worked with English and Science and Social Studies teachers. I’ve worked with French teachers. I’ve worked with Math teachers. And I’ve also worked with ELL teachers. They support the Hutterites who live in their communities. Those children were born and raised in Canada. German is their first…