POETRY AND TEACHER WRITERS WITH ANDY SCHOENBORN

Join Andy Schoenborn on Wednesday, October 20 virtually on Zoom at 4:00.

Writers who develop habits and routines built around curiosity, openness, engagement, creativity, persistence, responsibility, flexibility, and metacognition learn to trust their own brains and rhetorical moves. By looking at three particular writing assignments (reading response blogs, multimodal websites, and Pecha Kucha-style talks) we will explore authentic ways to empower students to view themselves as writers by using mentor texts, encouraging digital interactions, and publishing opportunities beyond the classroom. In particular, we will explore:

• Choice and Agency -- considering the opportunities for students to choose topics, genres, and media through which they produce and publish writing

• Active Inquiry -- even within prescribed curriculum, assisting students as they develop their own essential questions

• Setting and Reflecting on Goals -- through writing, conferring, and video recording, providing students with ways to articulate and document their work

When student writers are given the flexibility to dive into their thinking, converse about ideas with peers, and emerge with new found discoveries, their confidence as writers grow. Using habits of mind to approach learning helps student writers move away from thinking only about what they need to know and become more comfortable and confident owning the title of “writer.”

Andy Schoenborn is an award-winning author and high school English teacher in Michigan at Clare Public Schools. He focuses his work on progressive literacy methods including student-centered critical thinking, digital collaboration, and professional development. He is a past-president of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English, Vice President for the Michigan Reading Association, and Teacher Consultant for the Chippewa River Writing Project. His first book, co-authored with Dr. Troy Hicks, Creating Confident Writers was published in 2020. Follow him on Twitter @aschoenborn. His first book, co-authored with Dr. Troy Hicks, Creating Confident Writers was published in 2020. Follow him on Twitter @aschoenborn.

Register at   https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfXdh6bhu0ep%20JpmHcTJ0zjH3FrMMi7aKOCJLMlvjVbHEW8rmw/viewform