Brainstorming Through Writer’s Block in the English/Language Arts Classroom
Whether we are beginning writers, seasoned writing instructors, or best-selling novelists, writer’s block is bound to plague us all at some point or another, and it is highly likely to show up in the middle school or high school classroom when students are journaling...
Establishing Confident Writers Through Creativity and Self-Expression
The starkness of a white, blank notebook page can be frightening. Your fingers twitch with the desire for something, anything to just spill out. For the ink to somehow read your thoughts and know exactly where to make the page full. This constant feeling can be a...
What Just 10 Minutes of Daily Journaling Can Do for Student Writing
As you have probably already experienced at some point in your teaching career, it can be a major challenge to have your students quietly find their seats and have their materials out, let alone have them complete a warm-up exercise. With seemingly less and less time...
The Four Levels of Flow in Writing: What it Means When Writing Flows
When conferencing with my students regarding their writing, a common request I hear, (usually after some stammering from the student) is, “I want to make sure that my writing flows.” I might follow up by asking the student if he is referring to the flow between his...
How to Win the War on Comma Splices
Commas have so many uses in the English language that it is no surprise comma splices appear all throughout our students’ writing. We might applaud their efforts for wanting to use this handy piece of punctuation, but when students start using commas willy-nilly and...