The Young Writers Program (or YWP) is a way for NaNoWriMo to be accessible for participants 17 and younger (18 only if they're still in high school). Writing 50,000 words would be near impossible for young writers, so YWP allows them to choose their own writing goal.
A young woman, who is avoiding her mom’s repeated phone calls, is eager to commence with her birthday tradition as soon as her sister arrives at their favorite theme park.
When a law-abiding teenager breaks one of society’s oldest rules, he discovers that his watch doesn’t actually answer to him.
Caviar? What? I had to research caviar, something I have never eaten and will never eat (I don't care for seafood). Then, I had to figure out how to fit it into my story... Oy vey.
You may or may not have heard about mind maps for brainstorming ideas. However, I find coming up with those ideas to be considerably difficult sometimes, especially when it comes to teaching essays in class.
This exercise creates questions. Will all the answers show up in the novel? Probably not... but the answers will help us better understand our character.
I don't know about you, but every time I go into a store that sells notebooks, I find myself picking up each one and flipping through it. Even if I don't intend to buy one, I imagine what could be written on those pages.
Not only have my notebooks changed over the years, but my writing has also changed. Please join me as I walk you through the evolution of my writer's notebook, including four key things about each notebook.
For my return to Author Toolbox, I want to share with you the four ways I've used to find my motivation to write again. I hope that some of them will work for you if you ever feel like this writing thing needs a break.
Four months... I haven't posted anything on this blog for four months. Did you miss me? I don't know about you, but life has been pretty crazy since January. Long story short, I've had a lot of reasons (excuses) not to write. However, I plan to remedy that now. But first, you should listen to [...]
Week two of #100DaysofNotebooking has come and gone. With it, I have had a blast trying new things, reflecting on topics I enjoy, and planning for future writing. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Michelle Haseltine and her post where she introduces this amazing notebooking challenge! You can start your day one [...]
As I was preparing for my second post about #100DaysofNotebooking, I realized that my titles don't really help you know the content of the posts. Notebooking daily means the topic likely changes daily, so I've decided to keep a Table of Contents here for you in case you want to see certain kinds of posts. [...]
Welcome to 2020! I don't know about you guys, but I started the new year with daily writing. I know... I know... I should've already been doing that. I wasn't. However, with the beginning of #100DaysofNotebooking (started by Michelle Haseltine), I've formed a habit that I would love to share with you! Want to know [...]
I won’t sugar-coat it… At first, my students were completely confused. That is 100% my fault because I gave them too much too soon.
It's almost time to begin the school year! This will be a short post to show you what we're starting the first week of school! Find out more: Level 1: Getting Started Level 2: Incorporating the Standards Level 3: Game On Level 4: Problem-Solving after the First Six Weeks Launching I'm using Google Sites to [...]
It's been a few weeks since I've updated you on my gamification progress. I'm happy to say, it's going well! In a way, I have "leveled up" by incorporating the standards for my class into my game. Since I'm in Texas, we use the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). Why do this? Why not? [...]
What is that big word in your title?
Oh! Thank you for asking!
Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day, part of National Teacher Appreciation Week, an annual celebration of teachers that has been observed since the 1980s. To celebrate, I would like to thank the teachers who have most impacted my life from elementary all the way up to those I work with now. If it wasn't for [...]
Don't even think the word can't right now. The easiest way to start writing a poem is to let the words lead you. Watch...
Today (March 14th) is National Write Down Your Story Day. One of my stories is why I decided to be a teacher, which is not what I wanted to be when I was a kid. In truth, I wanted to be an archeologist for the longest time, but that dream ended in 8th grade after [...]
