Our classrooms are microcosms of the society we live in. The sad reality (that many have a hard time admitting) is race matters in our society and it matters in our classrooms. A person’s race impacts so many aspects of their day to day experiences. When we ignore this fact or pretend to be colorblind, we are perpetuating the problems of stereotyping, prejudice and systemic racism. The majority of teachers in America are white and female. Schools and neighborhoods are segregated by race. Students socially group themselves by race (and so do adults). How do we approach issues of race with our students? How do we help students develop their racial identity and consider how our racial identity impacts our lives? I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I’m still reading and learning and incorporating what I learn in small, incremental ways. For now, I’m leaning a lot on mentor texts. In this episode I discuss how to use mentor texts to approach issues of race in your English Classroom. I talk about 6 mentor texts and how I'd go about using them.

https://amandawritenow.com/how-to-quit-grading-so-much/ So, you want to know how to quit grading so much? Or maybe you just want your grading process to be more systematic and meaningful for students. Well, listening to this episode is the first step to making both of these things happen! My mission is to make teachers’ lives easier. I resigned from teaching because of COVID-19. After making this huge decision one question has been on my mind constantly…how can I help teachers? Let’s get honest here. Teaching during a pandemic is mind-numbing, tedious, and terrible! Sitting on a screen with students or having to teach with a mask on…this is an awful time to be a teacher. If you are continuing to have a positive attitude, you amaze me! One of the ways to ease teachers’ stress is by reducing the grading burden. Below, you’ll find 6+tips for how to stop grading so much. Some of the tips are obvious but that’s okay. Teachers need reminders just like students. You’ll also find ideas I gleaned from an amazing book called Point-less An English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful Grading by Sarah M. Zerwin. This book is a game changer for teachers because Zerwin documents exactly how teachers can work within their school’s grading policies to make grading more meaningful. I believe we can both stop grading so much and make the way we grade more meaningful!

Students in our class need to feel that their unique voices, opinions, and experiences matter. In this article, you’ll get inspiration and ideas for distance learning community building activities for middle school and high school students. https://amandawritenow.com/distance-learning-community-building-activities-for-middle-and-high-school/

https://amandawritenow.com/how-to-teach-reading-and-writing-workshop-from-a-distance/ Many teachers are wondering, can I still teach reading and writing workshop from a distance? The quick answer is... absolutely! Whether you want to admit it or not, the current state of the world requires we simplify what we normally do. This is exactly why we should continue doing workshop... I've been arguing for years that workshop makes teaching simple! At this point, you might be thinking, what do you mean Amanda!?!? How is it simple? What do I do? Well, read on my dedicated, wonderful teacher friend! Below I've listed the main components of reading and writing workshop and how each component can be tweaked to meet distance learning requirements. If you are new to workshop here are the main components: mini-lesson, work time, conferencing, charts, mentor texts and publishing.

This week Amanda discusses where she has been and shares major life events that have occurred since the last podcast. This episode will dive into some heavier topics such as the unexpected loss of a friend, Black Lives Matter protests, and not being able to see students in the same capacity. Join Amanda in the conversation, how have recent events shaped your life moving forward? Liz's Go Fund Me https://www.gofundme.com/f/liz-brown-family-memorial-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link-tip Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1220591518069228/ 5-Day Challenge: Confidently Launch Reading & Writing Workshop (in class or from a distance) https://www.workshopteacherschool.com/july-2020-training Amanda Write Now Membership https://amandawritenow.com/

In this episode, I delve into my very best tips to manage book clubs in a meaningful way so that teachers don't have to stress during a unit like this. You might be shocked at some of my methods!

Does this sound like you? You learn a new idea, a new way of teaching, a new strategy and you're all in. You become so convinced THIS is the way to go about things from now on! But, this energy to change everything all at once eventually wears off and you're left with a lot of overwhelming feelings. We have a lot in common if this sounds like you. I love trying new things but sometimes this innovative, open attitude leads to stress and absolute chaos in the classroom! In my years as a teacher and a human, I've learned that it's important to try new things slowly. Change is challenging so we need to take things one baby step at a time. In the latest podcast episode, I discuss the first baby step you need to take if you really want to get started with reading and writing workshop tomorrow! This baby step is so simple you'll probably wonder if what you are doing really is workshop. I'm here to tell you that yes, if you do this you are on your way to becoming a workshop teacher. You might even be shocked to realize you are already doing this thing! https://amandawritenow.com/want-to-get-started-with-workshop-do-this-one-simple-yet-powerful-thing/

I cut my grading time by over 10 hours and you can too! In this podcast, learn exactly what I did to cut my grading time tremendously! This episode is brought to you by Workshop Teacher Membership: https://www.workshopteacherschool.com/workshop-teacher-membership-sign%20up-page

Teachers are SUPER busy during the school year and need to be efficient when planning new writing units. It is absolutely necessary to find ways to save time. You are probably missing one huge step before you even begin planning your lessons to save time. Find out the ONE thing you need to start doing in order to save time when planning but more importantly, to teach students what they actually need. Below you will find additional resources to help you save time. Learn more here: https://amandawritenow.com/one-crucial-thing-you-might-not-be-doing-when-planning-writing-units-and-how-to-start-doing-it/

We all have resistant writers in our classrooms. This is a fact of teaching life. In the video below learn 13 different ways that you can help resistant writers become much more motivated. Not all of these ways will work. You need to try different combinations with different students until you’ve found the key to unlock your students’ motivation! Here are more resources related to this topic: https://amandawritenow.com/50-ways-to-get-kids-writing-more/ http://amandawritenow.com/supporting-writers-at-all-levels/ https://amandawritenow.com/my-students-dont-write-during-writing/ https://amandawritenow.com/8-ways-teachers-kill-a-love-of-writing/