THANKS TO OUR AFFILIATES! Head to https://one-sec.app?qu=twt to download the One Sec app to reclaim a large chunk of your waking hours by making distracting apps less appealing. Libro.fm Offer: Use the TWTPod Code Receive 2 audiobook credits for $14.99 USD with your first month of membership. Credits can be used on your choice of more than 275,000 audiobooks on Libro.fm.After your first month, you’ll pay $14.99 USD for one audiobook credit per month, and each payment supports local bookstores. M...
Mar 26, 2023•39 min
Equitably distributing your time among your students matters since every child should receive 1:1 writing instruction. However, it’s challenging to keep writing conferences to five to seven minutes in length. In today’s Tip for Tomorrow, you’ll hear two ideas that require minimum preparation. Both will help you trim down the time you spend with each student so that you can meet with more students during independent writing time. Thanks to Padlet for sponsoring this episode. Please use this link ...
Mar 19, 2023•10 min
This podcast is the second of two Tips for Tomorrow about test prep. You can listen to the first one here. Libro.fm Offer: Use the TWTPod Code Receive 2 audiobook credits for $14.99 USD with your first month of membership. Credits can be used on your choice of more than 275,000 audiobooks on Libro.fm. After your first month, you’ll pay $14.99 USD for one audiobook credit per month, and each payment supports local bookstores. Members also receive 30% off when buying audiobooks à la carte. Pause o...
Mar 12, 2023•7 min
Teaching grammar doesn’t have to be tedious or painful. In today’s episode, we dive deep into ways to make grammar instruction more meaningful, sticky, and joyful for you and your students. Browse Two Writing Teachers for in-depth blog posts about grammar , editing , and conventions . Thank you to our affiliates! Head to https://one-sec.app?qu=twt to download the One Sec app to reclaim a large chunk of your waking hours by making distracting apps less appealing. Go to https://www.buzzsprout.com/...
Mar 05, 2023•43 min
Paper can be used as an accommodation, a scaffold, and as a tool for innovation in writing workshops. Check out these Two Writing Teachers blog posts for more information about the topics we discussed in today’s episode: All About the Paper. Creating Classroom Environments: Paper Choices Gifts from the Heart Paper Choices for Opinion and Argument Writing: Reaching Your Writers Paper Choices: What’s up with that? Supporting Multimodal Composition in the Writing Workshop: Simple Ways to Begin Send...
Feb 26, 2023•32 min
Test prep can be fun! Here are a couple of ways to use media and bring some joy into writing as you prepare students for summative assessments. The Two Writing Teachers blog post mentioned in this episode is: Some Narrative Writing Fun Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/reviews on your favorite listening platform. You may contact us directly if you want us to consult with your school district. Melanie Meehan : meehanmelanie@gmail.com Stacey Shubitz : stacey@sta...
Feb 19, 2023•6 min
In this Conversations with a Colleague episode, Pam Koutrakos joins Melanie to talk about interactive writing and its power to grow writers. Here are several Two Writing Teachers blog posts and past podcast episodes that deal with the topics discussed in this episode: Step Up Interactive Writing (…And Sneak In More Spelling, Vocabulary, and Grammar) Conferring Toolkits: Class Stories, Shared Writing and Interactive Writing Interactive Writing: Don’t Close the Door Shared Writing: Expanding the R...
Feb 12, 2023•33 min
Just as your classroom library has books that kids can grow into, we can give students paper choices with the knowledge that they’re working to outgrow the paper they’re using. In today's Tip for Tomorrow, find out how paper can be used as an accommodation for students in writing workshop. Check out these Two Writing Teachers blog posts for more information about the topics we discussed in today’s episode: All About the Paper. Creating Classroom Environments: Paper Choices Gifts from the Heart P...
Feb 05, 2023•7 min
Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/reviews on your favorite listening platform. You may contact us directly if you want us to consult with your school district. Melanie Meehan : meehanmelanie@gmail.com Stacey Shubitz : stacey@staceyshubitz.com Email us at contact@twowritingteachers.org for affiliate or sponsorship opportunities . For more about teaching writing, head to the Two Writing Teachers blog....
Jan 29, 2023•6 min
We have a new feature, Conversations with a Colleague, to share today! In this episode, Leah Koch , who is one of our newest Two Writing Teachers co-authors, joins Stacey to talk about student-led small groups, as well as goal setting with primary writers. Here are several Two Writing Teachers blog posts and past podcast episodes that deal with the topics discussed in this episode: A Few Tips for Small Group Instruction: Expanding the Reach With Small Group Work Ideas for planning Small Group In...
Jan 22, 2023•31 min
The 16th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge, or SOLSC, will begin on Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 at Two Writing Teachers. Participants, who we call Slicers, chronicle moments by living a wide-awake life for 31 days in March. They publish their writing on their own blog, share a link to their story daily over at Two Writing Teachers, and then provide at least three other Slicers with comments on their blogs. In today's pod, you'll learn more about the challenge and how you can join us so that yo...
Jan 15, 2023•23 min
In this Tip for Tomorrow, you'll learn how to help students create and use a personal editing checklist that will help them fix up their writing in ways that meet them where they are as writers. For more on personal editing checklists and the editing minute, check out these posts on Two Writing Teachers : Something Do-Able to Try: The Editing Minute Three Ways to Introduce Personal Editing Checklists in Writing Workshop Using Personal Editing Checklists At Home Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe ...
Jan 08, 2023•7 min
Happy New Year! Students may have forgotten some of the routines and procedures used in the classroom. Taking the first few days to reteach routines after a school vacation benefits everyone so that writing workshop runs smoothly again. Book: Welcome to Writing Workshop: Engaging Today's Students with a Model That Works Pod Episode: Plan Boxes will Inspire You: Tip for Tomorrow Check out these Two Writing Teachers blog posts for more information on routines . A Game Plan for Writing Workshop Tra...
Jan 01, 2023•6 min
Are you tired of thumbs-up/thumbs-down as a self-assessment strategy? Here's a suggestion for a self-assessment system you can teach students so you can get a more nuanced view of their understanding. For more on self-assessment, check out the following posts on Two Writing Teachers: How Many Stars? Tools for Self-Assessment and Goal-Setting Self-Assessment: Assessment Strengthens Writers More on Student Self-Assessment Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/review...
Dec 18, 2022•4 min
Conventions are one of the hardest things to teach kids to do well in an exciting and authentic way. We have some ideas for teaching kids how to write with conventions without resorting to worksheets. Resources Mentioned: Co:Writer Universal Common Core Language Standards K-5 (See pg. 26.) Patterns of Power Family of Resources by Jeff Anderson et. al. Practical Punctuation: Lessons in Rule Making and Rule Breaking in Elementary Writing by Dan Feigelson Writing and the Writer, 2nd Ed. by Frank Sm...
Dec 11, 2022•28 min
For more about google forms, check out the following posts on Two Writing Teachers: Continuing to Think About Google Forms Ideas for Getting Started With Google Forms Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/reviews on your favorite listening platform. You may contact us directly if you want us to consult with your school district. Melanie Meehan : meehanmelanie@gmail.com Stacey Shubitz : stacey@staceyshubitz.com Email us at contact@twowritingteachers.org for affilia...
Dec 04, 2022•7 min
Do your students write with pens or pencils in your writing workshop? While some people wouldn't consider handing a pen to an elementary student, using them in the writing workshop has many benefits. You can find out more by listening to this Tip for Tomorrow and by reading what some of the TWT co-authors have written about the benefits of having students write with pens. A Writing Tool that Honors the Writing Process Itself An Eraser-Free Workshop and the Language We Use for Talking About It Mo...
Nov 27, 2022•7 min
You can grow your students’ agency in writing workshop by thinking deeply about the curriculum, growing your instruction, and nudging students toward self-assessment. Here are several Two Writing Teachers blog posts that deal with some of the topics discussed in this episode: Creating Clarity for Writers Different Ways to Use Checklists in Writing Workshop Increase the Number of Teachers in the Room with Student-Led Small Groups Intentional Practice in Our Writing Classrooms Six Ways to Make Cha...
Nov 20, 2022•33 min
If you're interested in reading more about writing as a gift, please read Heather's post about it, Narrative Writing Makes a Beautiful Gift. Subscribe to our podcast at https://twtpod.buzzsprout.com . For more about the teaching of writing, check out the blog! https://twowritingteachers.org Follow me on Twitter! Melanie Meehan: https://twitter.com/MelanieMeehan1 Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/reviews on your favorite listening platform. You may contact us d...
Nov 13, 2022•4 min
Conferring time is sacred! No one likes to be interrupted during a writing conference, but some students need a visual reminder that their teacher is off-limits when they're conferring. Today's Tip for Tomorrow will help you implement a visual conferring reminder to eradicate unnecessary distractions and interruptions while holding one-to-one writing conferences. Check out "What's a Conferring Scarf?" to help you plan your next steps with this nonverbal reminder tip. Check out the TWTBlog Archiv...
Nov 06, 2022•4 min
Mentor texts are important co-teachers in the writing workshop! This episode provides an in-depth look at mentor texts and is ideal for anyone who wants to extend the power of mentor texts in their classroom. Picture Books We Mentioned in the Podcast A Person Can Be… by Kerri Kokias and Carey Sookocheff Bake, Make & Learn to Cook Vegetarian: Healthy and Green Recipes for Young Cooks by David Atherton and Alice Bowsher Copycat: Nature-Inspired Design Around the World by Christy Hale Counting ...
Nov 03, 2022•38 min
If you're interested in reading more about small group instruction, we have many blog posts about them on our website. Here are a few to check out: A Few Tips for Small Group Instruction: Expanding the Reach With Small Group Work Ideas for planning Small Group Instruction Small Groups, Big Engagement: Expanding the Possibilities and Potential Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/reviews on your favorite listening platform. You may contact us directly if you want ...
Oct 30, 2022•3 min
For more on plan boxes, check out the following posts on Two Writing Teachers: The Plan Box Are Plan Boxes Worth It? Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/reviews on your favorite listening platform. You may contact us directly if you want us to consult with your school district. Melanie Meehan : meehanmelanie@gmail.com Stacey Shubitz : stacey@staceyshubitz.com Email us at contact@twowritingteachers.org for affiliate or sponsorship opportunities . For more about t...
Oct 23, 2022•6 min
In this episode, we tackle several predictable problems we've seen students deal with in a writing workshop. We discuss how to work with students who claim they have nothing to write about, how to deal with stories that go on and on (and on), the "I'm done" syndrome, guiding students with perfectionist tendencies, managing a variety of behavior issues, and helping students who don't use conventions. Here are a dozen past #TWTBlog posts for more ideas, strategies, and tips for solving predictable...
Oct 20, 2022•33 min
In this episode, we announce the winners of our Corwin book giveaway. Thank you to everyone who has left reviews or ratings on their listening platforms, and an especially big thank you to Corwin Press for sponsoring this giveaway by donating five professional books. The winners are: Jenn Burke Patty Saentz Rikki Kwas Meredith Schaefer Linda Szakmary ____________________________________ To read more about partnerships and processes, check out some of the blog posts about them, including: Partner...
Oct 16, 2022•5 min
This Tip for Tomorrow will inspire you to set a time to follow up with your students after a writing conference. RATINGS/REVIEWS We are excited to share the Two Writing Teachers Podcast with you. If you've provided a rating or review on any of the listening platforms, then please fill out this form to be entered into a giveaway for a free professional book from Corwin. All entries must be received by October 14th, 2022. You must have a U.S. mailing address to enter the giveaway. ***** For more a...
Oct 09, 2022•6 min
Amy, Melanie, and Stacey talk about ways to solve five predictable problems teachers face as teachers of writing. There isn't enough time in my writing block. My writing units go on forever. I don't know what to confer about. I need help explaining writing workshop to parents and caregivers. I'm always interrupted when I teach writing. Check out the Solving Predictable Problems Blog Series our co-authors wrote in 2017. You may also check out the series' Twitter Chat Archive on Wakelet for furthe...
Oct 06, 2022•28 min
To read more about supporting young writers in raising the level of their talk in a workshop, check out some of our blog posts including: The Power of Language Revisited Conferring With Writers is Like Coaching Skiers: Strength ID and Enhancement Top Three Predictable Beginning of Year Conferences: Our Favorite Things ***** For more about the teaching of writing, check out the blog! https://twowritingteachers.org . ***** Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/revie...
Oct 02, 2022•6 min
RATINGS/REVIEWS We are excited to share the Two Writing Teachers Podcast with you. If you've provided a rating or review on any of the listening platforms, then please fill out this form to be entered into a giveaway for a free professional book from Corwin. All entries must be received by October 14th, 2022. You must have a U.S. mailing address to enter the giveaway. MORE INFORMATION Check out Shawnda's blog post that inspired today's bonus episode: Chants for Writing: Support Routines, Convent...
Sep 29, 2022•27 min
If you're interested in reading more about conventions, some blog posts include: Ways to Teach Conventions Grammar and Conventions Using Inquiry to Lift Language Conventions Subscribe to our podcast at https://twtpod.buzzsprout.com . If you subscribe and leave us a review, please fill out this form! You'll be entered in a drawing for professional books from Corwin Press. For more about the teaching of writing, check out the blog! https://twowritingteachers.org Send us Fan Mail Please subscribe t...
Sep 25, 2022•4 min
