Dear Students, What have you heard about creativity? When I was your age, I thought it meant someone could draw or paint really well. I thought it only had something to do with arts and crafts. “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”― Vincent Willem van GoghGoodreads That's not always true! One of [...]
Great question. I'm here, and I'm working on something big! Check back in later this month for something I never thought I'd share. In the meantime, please enjoy this poem I wrote just now when I'm supposed to be finishing up a baby quilt... From the quilt I'm supposed to be working on... A lot [...]
Have you missed me? It's been quite some time since my last post [NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program (Author Toolbox)], which was in October of 2020. I have been busy since then, so this lovely blog of mine has been moved to the back-burner. What exactly have you been up to? First, I'll give you a quick [...]
Happy New Year (and one month)! I haven't written much in quite some time, mostly due to being super busy. But I'm still here, and I'm going to get back on track! You read that right. I plan to get back to my writing so much so that you will be able to read my [...]
Oftentimes we're writing merrily along when we suddenly stop in the middle of a word. We know exactly how to spell this word, so the trouble lies elsewhere...
Is this supposed to be one word or two words?
When I was a student in middle school and high school, life was simple: go to class, write down the assignment, complete the warm up, listen to the teacher, take notes, read the assigned passages, answer the questions, turn in your work, and repeat tomorrow. Was every class like this? Didn't any class use other [...]
I don't know about you, but one problem for writers is a blank page. What do I write about? This question pops up all too often, and it can keep students from achieving their personal writing goals. Students have loved writing bingo in the past, so I created a Google Form for them to submit [...]
The man laughed. “Oh, Sonny, everyone worries about me, but it’s useless. I’m going to do my own thing no matter what anyone thinks or says about it.”
Why are we teaching? What keeps us teaching? What makes us come back after the break (especially after Christmas break)?
If your September has been anything like my September, then you have been a busy bee. School started, so my days are filled with teaching, lesson planning, and after-school activities. (Thank you #51Writers for today's topic of Oxford commas. As you can see, I am definitely on #teamoxfordcomma!) The problem... Okay, so we're busy. What [...]
We all know that goals are important in our lives; they give us a purpose. Students need that, too. They need a purpose in the classroom, one they choose. I've been incorporating writing goals in our class for the last couple years. They have changed significantly from when I started due to student feedback and [...]
Too many ideas. A writer's best friend or worst enemy? We can ask the same thing of a first draft. Our hearts start racing and our minds start whirring after the first few sentences. We know we've got this. When does that feeling end? How many of these first drafts do we have? How many [...]
Immortal Words of a Mortal Writer 