In grad school, I was lucky enough to have an amazing writing class which taught us the ins and outs of Lucy Calkins’ program. I instantly fell in love with wanting to teach this way – there are conferences with each student throughout, and it is broken down into different steps (Immersion, Collecting, Choosing, Developing, Drafting, Revising, Final Editing) that are simple for students to follow.

The main thing that I took from this class was the love for YOUR WRITER’S NOTEBOOK. It should be decorated with pictures that bring memories for stories, and fully personalized for each child. Last year, the teachers I worked with taught writing and reading during the same time block and I was needed to help in the reading classroom (so I was never involved with writing). However, this year, there is one co-teacher in each classroom! My lead is also more open to me taking over whenever I feel inclined 🙂 In order to be able to teach writing, I had to do one important thing…..decorate my own notebook. 

It was so much fun looking through old pictures and deciding which ones to paste on. Every time I look at it, I am brought back to my family and friends as well as the moments that go with each photo 🙂 This act also made me feel like a real teacher because I can keep this for years and years of instructing to come!