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Getting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 114 Wins Wins Wins: 3 Classrooms' Journey of Independent Writing TimeYou will be inspired from this episode! The transformation that occurred for all three of these fabulous teachers as well as their students was incredible!Listen in to hear about:Huge wins in a short amount of timeIncreased teacher confidence with teaching writingHow students' engagement and idea generation increasedGrowth in kindergarten writing skills with little instructionI know this episode will persuade you to implement authentic independent writing time!***Important NEWS! This will be the last episode before a short summer break! I will return in mid-late August. ...2025-06-1725 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 113 Tips for Fantasy Writing with Carl Anderson (Pt 2)The second part of my conversation with Carl Anderson provides you with helpful and interesting information about teaching writing and more about the genre of fantasy. You will hear Carl's thoughts on:writing your own mentor text-Do not be afraid! the importance of showing how writers navigate writingwriting in front of students (modeled writing)the "elevator pitch" and how it helps students and teachersA quote from Carl: "When kids are highly engaged, it makes our work with kids really enjoyable and much more interesting and just a lot more fun for everybody and...2025-06-1032 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 112 Fantasy for the Win with Carl Anderson Pt 1You will LOVE this discussion with Mr. Carl Anderson about his newest book, Teaching Fantasy Writing: Lessons That Inspire Student Engagement and Creativity, Grades K6. This book is a MUST-HAVE for teachers and hearing Carl's insights on the book as well as his passion for the fantasy genre for students is palpable!In the episode you will hear about:The bias against fantasy writing This genre's profound impact on student engagement and creativity The benefits of fantasy writing for students Developmental benefits and pedagogical strategies for incorporating fantasy writing into the curriculum,...2025-06-0327 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 111 Myths and Misconceptions about Writer's WorkshopWe've all heard remarks about the writer's workshop method that are a bit off. In this episode, I bring up some of the misconceptions, and sometimes just untruths, of writer's workshop and try to set the record straight. After telling a bit about the history of the workshop model, I share what I feel are a few of the possible reasons for these misconceptions and advocate (again) for the method I love so much: the one that not only engages writers but improves student writing.The episode will touch on:The educators who were...2025-05-2730 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 110 All Things Kinder with Zeba McGibbonOh so many tips and insights were shared by the fabulous Zeba McGibbon of the Kindergarten Cafe! Listen in to hear about: -the importance of supporting students with SEL-including a variety of aspects for helping students with writing-Zeba's Caring Critters book series!You can find Zeba -On her Podcast-Kindergarten CafeOn Instagram @kindergartencafeOn her website-www.kindergartencafe.org**Teachers! We want to hear from you! We want to hear your story, experience, aha moment or insights related to...2025-05-2039 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 109 An Inside View: 3 Classrooms' Journey of Independent Writing TimeI am currently in the process of supporting three teachers with implementing an authentic independent writing time and wanted to give you an insider's look! In this episode you will hear about teachers and students from three different grade levels and how they are progressing with implementing student choice, multiple drafts and more. Our coaching work consists of one day of training and 4 days of coaching within 5 weeks, and this episode covers the first half of our time together.I will share:-What writing time looked like in each classroom before our work...2025-05-1337 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 108 Practical and Effective Tips for Supporting Multi-lingual Writers with Katherine HamiltonI know that teachers are always looking for more ways to be able to provide effective support for their students who are multilingual learners. In this episode, Katherine Hamilton from Ensemble Learning discusses mindsets and strategies that are able to be implemented without lengthy preparation and will generalize across other areas of instruction. Katherine shares insights into:-fostering a supportive and culturally rich classroom environment-using scaffolds and visual aids-and leveraging students' native languages to build their confidence and academic English skillsThe conversation also covers...2025-05-0638 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 107 Thoughts on "Free Writing" and JournalsThe term "free writing" is used often, and I have to say, I don't love it. To me, it signals that providing students "freedom" to choose their own topics, make mistakes, right without what is considered "proper structure", make mistakes or go at their own pace is something that is different from or outside of the writing that is typically done. Hear more of my thoughts on this term and its meanings, as well as what I feel to be important when thinking of utilizing journals in the classroom. Hint...it's all about...2025-04-2921 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 106 Meaningful Grammar Instruction with Patty McGeeStudents struggle with grammar. Teachers struggle with grammar. But...Patty McGee says it doesn't have to be that way! If you are looking for simple yet powerful ways to help your students to apply grammar skills, you will not want to miss this discussion! Patty shares a wealth of information on best practices in grammar instruction including high-impact techniques for doing so. Grab Patty's Noun, Verbs, Both Sort HereFind out more about Patty HerePatty McGee is a nationally recognized literacy consultant, speaker, and educator with a passion f...2025-04-2243 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 105 Holding Space for Writers' Needs: One Teacher's Win!When teaching writing, there are so many things on our mind-so many skills to worry about our students mastering. Most of these skills are what we can see on paper, and they can easily steal the majority of our focus. However, there are a multitude of skills, abilities, beliefs and characteristics of writers that need to be developed and addressed that are beneath the surface, yet extremely vital, and when they are ignored, students' success as writers in inhibited.In this episode, I am honored to share one writer's "win" because of one amazing teacher's...2025-04-1512 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 104 Empowering the Writer Within with Author Sarah McDavisThis incredible conversation with author and speaker Sarah McDavis will have you feeling inspired! Sarah gives us a peek into her mind as a writer sharing:How she begins a new bookHer process for draftingHer own version of planningStrategies for when you are "stuck"Using charts and graphs to revise her bookShe reminds us that each and every writer is unique and that fostering our students' own writing identity is such an important component to our writing instruction. I learned so much from our conversation and hope you will too!2025-04-0837 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 103 Master Sentences before Writing? I Don't Think SoHow can we expect perfection from our young writers when we don't expect it of ourselves?Does a young basketball player need to perfect his shot before he can play a game?Do professional authors publish their first draft? For some reason there are literacy professionals who are promoting having students "master sentences" before they are able to write anything more. I'm not sure I understand this idea.In this episode I share my take on this and a similar line of thought that is much more in keeping with the...2025-04-0124 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 102 Help! I Don't Know What to Teach Them!When I first began using the workshop model, I felt very unequipped to help my writers. I wasn't a writer myself and certainly had not had any training in writing or how to teach writing. So, when I sat next to my little ones and read over their pieces, I felt like I didn't know how to help them. The truth was, I knew so many things about writing that would have been exactly what my students needed to hear! Not only that, but I was able to learn FROM them as they showed me...2025-03-2518 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 101 Elevating Writing Instruction with Carl Anderson and Matt Glover Pt 2Get ready for the rest of this fantastic discussion with Carl Anderson and Matt Glover! You will hear more about the importance of student engagement in writing as well as helpful tips for navigating the various aspects of a writer-focused workshop model. Check out what the authors have to say about:Illustrations as an integral part of compositionTeaching a non-genre specific unitSteps for beginning Writer's WorkshopTips for utilizing the bookIf you haven't listened to the beginning of this conversation, be sure to go back to episode 100! Books mentioned in...2025-03-1830 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEp 99 But We Don't Have Enough Time!Time just does not seem to be on a teacher's side! There are so many things requiring or affecting your time-some you can control, some you cannot. Some you are invested in, some you are not.More often than not, writing is the part of literacy that gets pushed aside for other areas.But writing is an ESSENTIAL part of our students' day and life and needs to be given what it is due!This episode will provide tips and ideas for getting the most out of your day and including writing practices...2025-03-1127 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 98 Writers Struggling? Try a New Perspective!We all get stuck in a rut with our teaching. Sometimes it just takes a different perspective to figure out what works!This episode shares a few examples of looking at parts of teaching writing in a new way and provides you with steps to try it out yourself! Listen in to this short episode for some helpful tips for improving your writing instruction.**Teachers! We want to hear from you! We want to hear your story, experience, aha moment or insights related to Getting Students to Write! The more we share, the...2025-03-0414 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 97 Little Things Make a HUGE Difference!Implementing effective writing instruction is a big task. There are many moving parts and lots of important young writers to take care of! I find it helpful to know and remember that often times the little details are what also make a huge impact on your student writers. This episode shares examples of those small practices and hopefully helps to spark even more ideas for you to implement. Listen in to hear about writing tips such as:including your writerspositive energystudent collaborationand more!**Teachers! We want to hear from you...2025-02-2514 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 96 Why Can't We Just Use the Oreo Planner?Teaching is hard. Teaching writing is hard...and, it's not the only thing you have to teach!I get it. Trying new things can be time-consuming and a bit scary. But also...it can be so worth it! If you want your students to be engaged and successful in writing, it's time to take a risk! If you are frustrated with lack of student progress and even student interest and motivation for writing, then it is time to think differently about writing time in your classroom. The goal for...2025-02-1813 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 95 Peer Feedback that Works with Michelle Ruhe Pt 2Part 2 with Michelle Ruhe of Coach from the Couch continues with more actionable steps for implementing peer feedback with your writers.In this episode we discuss:the importance of slow, strategic implementationusing checklists and rubricsproviding quality, exemplar writing pieces andhow to set goals while staying within a writer's ZPDThis conversation will get rid of any fears and frustrations with having students work together as writers! Michelle Ruhe is a 20+ year veteran elementary educator dedicated to helping others find the joy in teaching--because confident, happy educators are the key to inspiring confident...2025-02-1122 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 94 Peer Feedback that Works with Michelle Ruhe Pt 1It can sound scary and impossible, but it's not! In this first episode with Mrs. Michelle Ruhe of Coach from the Couch, we share the power of peer feedback to:enhance writing qualityengage students anddistribute the feedback workloadYou will hear about the transformative potential of peer feedback in fostering student ownership and improving writing through collaborative learning.Listen in to this and next week's episode for practical and effective tips on implementing peer feedback in your writing classroom. Michelle Ruhe is a 20+ year veteran elementary educator dedicated to helping...2025-02-0416 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 91 Writing Conferring Series: Research-Decide-TeachMelissa saved one of the best, but possibly "scariest" writing conference for last! The Research-Decide-Teach conference originates from Lucy Calkins and is a highly effective method for truly meeting your writers' needs and moving them forward as writers.In this final installment of the Writing Conference Series, Melissa discusses how to gather information from students, make instructional decisions, and effectively teach targeted strategies during a writing conference. Melissa provides an overview of the RTD conference, a comparison of RTD to other conferences previously discussed in the series, an example of a student conference...2025-01-1430 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEdited! Episode 90 Writing Strategies Series: ElaborationAre you looking for more than "use describing words" and "tell me more" when it comes to helping students elaborate in their writing? In this episode, Melissa dives into strategies for improving writing elaboration for students by first considering a few overall understandings and techniques for opinion, narrative and informational writing and then sharing specific strategies for ways to elaborate. Emphasizing the importance of purposeful writing and understanding the audience, Melissa offers a range of techniques and specific strategies tailored for different genres. She also introduces practical elaboration strategies like twin sentences, using question words...2025-01-0720 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 89 Lessen Your Mental Load by Establishing Student AgencyRaise your hand if you have felt unsure, ill-equipped, or stressed out when making decisions about writing instruction. Teachers tend to place too much responsibility on themselves when it comes to instruction in general, and definitely with writing instruction! This creates unnecessary stress that can be alleviated by establishing student autonomy and agency.Involving students in their learning and putting more of the responsibility on them will:Increase engagement and motivationMake learning stickLesson your mental loadIncrease student growthIn this episode, Melissa shares examples of ways to include writers in their learning...2024-12-1719 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 88 Writing Conferring Series: Re-teach ConferenceWhat does a conference sound like you ask? Listen in to hear Melissa provide a detailed example of a "Re-teach Conference." Quite often, the strategies you have taught are not being implemented in each student's independent writing pieces. The purpose of a "Re-teach" conference is to provide follow-up, explicit instruction on a previously taught writing strategy from a whole-class mini-lesson. Because the strategy being used has already been taught, the preparation is quite minimal...WINNING!In this episode, Melissa will discuss how and why to choose this conference for your writers...2024-12-1115 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 87 Writing Strategies Series: Generating Ideas"I don't know what to write about!" is what is heard in classrooms all over. In this episode, Melissa emphasizes the importance of supporting students in having the independence to generate their own ideas for writing. She discusses the negative impacts of consistently providing students with topics and offers practical strategies to help students generate ideas on their own. When students are involved in creating their own topics, their engagement is increased. Highlighting the significance of understanding the purpose behind different types of writing, Melissa provides techniques such as: using emotionsstudying the...2024-12-0316 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 86 Writing Conferring Series: Compliment ConferenceAre you wondering where to begin when conferring with your writers? This episode will teach you all about the Compliment Conference and how to use it as not only a way to encourage your writers but also as a formative assessment for your writing instruction.This conference has four simple steps:Open the conversationIdentify evidence of a successful writing behavior or actionShare the compliment with the writerThank the writer for their time. Melissa also shares how to plan for the Compliment Conference as we as utilize the conference as data for further...2024-11-2611 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 85 Writing Strategies Series-IndependenceRaise your hand if you have students coming up to you or sitting and staring or raising their hands during independent writing time!There are so many reasons why students are not fully independent writers, and this episode provides a variety of ideas and strategies for creating a classroom full of writers who are!Melissa shares four ideas for supporting independence during writing time:Implement proceduresExpect It!Give it time and have patience!Prevent obstaclesFind out the true reason for lack of independence Whether you are teaching Kindergarten or 8th grade, if...2024-11-1913 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 84 Writing Conferring Series: Writer's Inquiry ConferenceWelcome to the first episode in the Conferring Series! This series will discuss a variety of conference types for writing to help you feel more confident in meeting one-on-one with your writers in order to meet their needs. This first conference, the Writer's Inquiry Conference is all about getting to know your writers. It is extremely helpful for students to feel at ease and accepted in their writing community, and building a relationship with you is the way to start. Melissa will share the components of the conference as well as...2024-11-1223 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEp 83 Writing Strategies Series- EngagementThis episode is the beginning of the Writing Strategies Series and is all about supporting students with the most foundational aspect of writing- Engagement! Just as with any learning-academic to athletic-learners must be engaged in order to progress. Drawing from educational research and expert Jennifer Serravallo, I discuss the multi-dimensional construct of writing engagement, including affective, behavioral, cognitive, and social components. After sharing key practices for your writing classroom that set the tone for engaged writing, I offer various practical strategies to improve student engagement such as: choosing meaningful topics setting goals...2024-11-0521 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEp 82 A Few Things to Know for the Upcoming SeriesThis episode shares the understandings needed in order to get the most out of the two upcoming series: Strategies for Writing and All About ConferringThere are a variety of common struggles for our writers and I hope to help you by sharing specific strategies for each of them in the upcoming podcast series. Conferring is a topic I have not yet thoroughly addressed so I will be alternating the strategies series with a conferring one as well.Before sharing both series, I wanted to be sure to provide some helpful...2024-11-0118 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 81 Four Tips for Finding Explicit Writing LessonsYou've gotten to know your students as writers, and you've chosen goals for your class. Now what? It's time to find strategies for writing that your writers can use to meet their goals!In this episode, Melissa shares four techniques for finding and choosing teaching points.Leveraging Your Own Writing ExperienceMining Mentor TextsThinking Outside the BoxUtilizing Professional TextsListen in and feel more confident in your ability to teach your writers!Professional Books Mentioned in the Episode"Units of Study in Narrative, Opinion and Informational2024-10-2223 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 80 Writing in Special Education with Dana Teague Part 2Part 2 with Dana Teague is here! Dana's energy is contagious, and she shares so many ideas for supporting your student writers. Listen in to hear:Why you don't need to be a perfect writer to teach your writersWays to get to know your writersFree Writing Assessment Helping writers use AI effectivelyI hope you enjoy the episode!About Melissa:Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs s...2024-10-1521 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 79 Writing in Special Education with Dana Teague Pt 1I know this episode (and its sequel) will have you nodding your head in agreement again and again!Ms. Dana Teaque is an experienced and passionate educator who will make you feel seen and inspire you to do what is best for your students. Listen in to hear:Dana's educational journeyWriting strategies for diverse learnersFostering student growthEmbracing flexibilityAbout Melissa:Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction a...2024-10-0831 minGetting Students to Write! Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers transform writing timeEpisode 78 But What if They Write it Wrong?You may not have had said this out loud, but I know it has been in the back of your mind. It is there each time you make a decision to:-provide a structure graphic organizer for planningOr-have students "check in" before moving ahead in the workIn this episode, I encourage teachers to consider the purpose of their fear and provide less structured guidance, allowing students to make errors as part of their natural learning process. I highlight the importance of observing each student's...2024-10-0110 min