Writing instruction is one of the most misunderstood disciplines in the field of education. Often, teachers trying to teach struggling writers search for a predictable formula (5 paragraph essay, anyone?), derived from a linear process (brainstorm - draft - revise - edit - publish). Or, teachers dictate what's important to students by always providing a prompt. I've come to the conclusion that the main reason teachers struggle to teach writing effectively stems from the fact that most teachers don't view themselves as writers. 

If we were to stop and consider the times in our lives when we are operating as authentic writers, I think we'd see that 1) there are lots and lots of formats within any given genre (and few, if any, of them are five paragraphs in length!), 2) we don't always follow a strict process - sometimes we gather ideas; sometimes we just write; and sometimes we make a plan first. Finally, 3) we decide what's important to write about, why we're writing, and whom we're writing for.

In that vain, I've been gathering some resources to help you become a model writer for your classroom. Hopefully you'll find something useful! I challenge you to become the type of writer we want our students to be. 

Resources for Writing Teachers
Here are some webpages and insights from some of my favorite writing teaches. One thing they have in common is that they're all writers themselves. 

Ralph Fletcher
These tips are geared specifically toward student writers, but as writing teachers, we can use these tips as minilessons or conferring points. 

Ruth Ayres
These images from Ruth Ayres's writing notebook provide a concrete example of what a writing notebook might look like. 

Don Graves
In this video interview, Don Graves discusses the writer's life. Useful stuff when trying to create a vision for a writing classroom. 

I came across this quote from Gilda Radner on some random quote generator awhile back, and it stuck with me. I wasn't quite sure how it applied, but I knew that I'd figure it out eventually. 

This year, our sixth grade reading teachers (Katie Anderson, Cele Fakler, Emily Glasford, Jannette Moehlman, Tara Knowlton, Hanne Burke, Lori Mettler, Lacey Bodensteiner, Pam Bonar, Anna Rau, and Monica Waltman) have committed to providing responsive, point-of-need teaching based on a series of assessments that will hopefully provide a more complete picture of our students as readers. 

It hasn't been easy. There have been lots of new resources to learn about, and a little anxiety about how all of this would come together. And we're a long way from any type of perfect ending. 

I wanted to use this forum as a way to publicly acknowledge the hard work and dedication of these outstanding educators. Even with the uncertainty of working with something new, these teachers have embraced the changes and taken the leap. 

Thanks for all you do for our students!