“Moonscape” by Zetta Elliott is offered to educators and students as an open resource — free to share and print through Just YA on Open OkState. We invite you to read this poem and listen to the interview (including a reading and discussion about the …
A very special “thank you” to the educators who hosted this January’s Open Write out of pure generosity. We deeply appreciate our volunteer hosts and the care they take in responding to our poems. Thank you, Shaun, Gayle, Glenda, Erica, and Jessica. Please join us …
Our Host: Erica Johnson Erica lives in the suburbs of Little Rock, but teaches in the rural town of Vilonia, Arkansas. She has dedicated thirteen years to helping high school students excel in Advanced and College level English courses. Not only does Erica work with …
Our Host Glenda retired from full-time teaching in 2019 after a 38 year career and is now substitute teaching in her district. In addition to being a dog and cat mom, Glenda loves to travel and is a doting grandmother to Ezra, a budding reader …
Our Host: Gayle Sands Gayle lives in Taneytown, MD. She quickly de-retired after her exit from 27 years of teaching middle-school English, Today, she supervises secondary education practicum students for McDaniel College. When not supervising, she wrangles her curmudgeonly husband and growing menagerie. The pet …
As we prepare to begin our January Open Write—a time for teachers to come together over five days to nurture our writing lives, witness one another’s words, and gather ideas to support student writers—we want to take a moment to hold our California teachers and …
Rethinking Grammar Instruction: From Rule-Based Learning to Rhetorical Empowerment by Sarah J. Donovan A Story of Two Classrooms In one classroom, students sit in rows, filling out grammar worksheets on subject-verb agreement, disconnected from the creative energy of their writing. The teacher, driven by district …
What if words could heal? Poetry has the power to reach into our hearts, untangle our toughest moments, and turn them into something lighter, something shared. In classrooms, it does even more: it builds community, fosters vulnerability, and creates spaces where teachers and students can …
A very special thank you to Kim, Stacey, Denise, Emily, and Erica for taking such good care of our words this month. If you have written with us before, welcome back. If you are joining us for the first time, you are in the kind, …
Welcome to day 4 of the November Open Write. We are so glad you are here. Our Host Emily lives in Vinalhaven, Maine where she teaches middle school on an island 15 miles off the coast. After a decade as a science and environmental educator, …