ABOUT THIS EPISODE
✏️ Try It Tuesday: Writing Folders, Writer's Notebooks & Doing Your Own Assignment
Writing doesn't happen in a straight line. Angela Lathem-Ballard and I talked about that on the podcast this week, and it reminded me of the folders and notebooks I bring into every writing conference and mini-lesson I teach. Here's what's inside them.
In this reel:
✅ My K-2 writing folder. One side says "Still Working" with a green dot. The other says "Done for Now" with a yellow dot. It used to be red, until I noticed kids read red as "finished forever."
✅ The sheet protector hack. I slide my "done for now" pieces into clear sleeves so I can mark them up with a dry-erase marker during a conference, then wipe them clean. I never have to write on a student's paper.
✅ My double writer's notebook for grades 3-12. A student told me she loved fiction while we were studying informational writing. So we glued two notebooks together. One holds the genre we're studying in workshop. The other is for anything she wants to write.
✅ Why this works. Cognitive Task Analysis, or doing your own assignment, has an Effect Size of 1.09 in John Hattie's research. Anything above 0.40 counts as a year's growth.
Giving kids a "write whatever you want" notebook builds student motivation and classroom belonging. They see their own interests have a place in school. Modeling with your own drafts raises student engagement and student participation during conferences, because kids watch you revise in real time. These are teaching tips you can use in lesson planning tomorrow.
If you're coaching, invite teachers to build their own writing folder or notebook before their next writing unit. It's a concrete professional learning move for mentor teachers, education coaches, teacher mentors, and instructional leaders. Want help setting up writing systems like these in your classroom or school? I coach teachers and leadership teams. Learn more at oliviawahl.com under Coaching & Consulting.
Keep your notebooks. I still pull pieces from mine that I wrote years ago.
Chapters:
0:00 Try It Tuesday: Writing Isn't Linear
0:20 K-2 Writing Folder: "Still Working" vs. "Done for Now"
0:55 Sheet Protector Hack for Writing Conferences
1:20 The Double Writer's Notebook for Grades 3-12
1:55 Writing Beyond the Classroom
2:10 Do Your Own Assignment (Hattie Effect Size 1.09)
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