FROM THE DESK OF The Structured Writing Teacher

When I first started teaching, I didn’t really know how to teach writing. I knew it was important. I had some textbooks. I had a stack of construction paper and glitter.  And I had a lot of hope. So we made pop-up books and paper-plate characters. We turned in Tall Tales written on scrolls of receipt paper. We displayed stories with cotton balls and googly eyes. It was creative. It was fun. But it wasn’t teaching writing. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and no one had really shown me how. Why Was Writing So Hard to Teach? Part of the problem was that writing is invisible. You can’t point to it the way you can point to a math formula. There’s no clear-cut path. There’s no single right answer. I tried rubrics. I tried sentence starters. I tried grading checklists. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was guessing. And that my students were guessing, too. The bright ones thrived. The quiet ones hid. And the reluctant writers? They copied from the board or wrote ...

There was a time when my writing block was the most exhausting part of my day. I knew writing mattered. I knew students needed time to explore ideas, take risks, revise, and find their voice. I wanted my classroom to feel like a space where writers actually wrote . But no matter how hard I tried, it just… didn’t work. Some students barely wrote anything. Others scribbled five lines and said, “I’m done.” A few thrived—but even then, it was usually because they were natural writers to begin with. The rest were lost. And honestly? So was I. The Turning Point The shift didn’t happen overnight. It came after years of trying to make various writing programs “fit” my students—and failing. Then, I left the classroom to tour as a children’s book author. I worked with editors, publishers, and writing teams. I was immersed in what real writing looked like behind the scenes. And I kept thinking… Why don’t we teach our students to write the way professional writers actually work? I start...

Let’s talk writer’s workshop —not the Pinterest-perfect, every-kid-scribbling-furiously version. I mean the real one. The kind where some students thrive... and some stare blankly at the page for 20 minutes straight. That’s where I started. I loved the idea of writer’s workshop. Mini-lesson → independent writing → sharing out. Sounds dreamy, right? But in reality? ⛔ Some kids had no idea what to write about. ⛔ Some didn’t know if they were “doing it right.” ⛔ Some barely wrote a sentence and then… behavior issues. So, I changed everything. Yep... everything. After stepping away from the classroom to become a full-time children’s book author (and watching real authors work), I realized something huge: there are specific routines that professional writers use every day—and our students can use them too. Then I noticed something else… At my son’s baseball practice, I saw 8-year-old team captains leading warm-ups while the coach got everything else ready. When it was time t...

  The Science of Writing: What Actually Works? If you’ve been anywhere near the world of education lately, you’ve probably heard about the “Science of Reading” movement. The podcast Sold a Story shook up the literacy world by exposing how reading instruction in the U.S. has ignored research-backed strategies for decades. But as I listened to that podcast, I couldn’t stop thinking: What about writing? Where is the research-backed, evidence-based method for teaching kids to write? So, I did what any self-respecting teacher does during a break—I fell down a massive research rabbit hole . And what I found? Well, let’s just say…it was eye-opening . In this post, I’m breaking down: ✔️ The biggest problems with how writing is taught today ✔️ What actual research says about effective writing instruction ✔️ The three essential components of a successful writing program Let’s dig in. The Pendulum Problem in Writing Instruction Education is notorious for swinging back and forth ...