What a fantastic discussion with a fantastic educator and writer, Ms. Ana Siqueira.

Ana shares her journey of being an author and what is most important to her as a writer AND teacher of writers!

We talk all about:

-collaboration between writers

-writing needing to be FUN

-not being great the first draft

-ways for writers to be inspired

-the effectiveness of peer critique and how to get it started

Ana provides practical and effective ways to support the writers in your classroom!

ABOUT ANA SIQUEIRA:

Ana Siqueira is a Spanish-language teacher and an award-winning children’s book author based in Tampa, Florida. Her books include Bella’s Recipe for Success (Beaming Books 2021), If Your Babysitter is a Bruja (S&S 2022), Abuela’s Super Capa/ La Supercapa de Abuela (HarperCollins 2023), Our World Brazil (Barefoot Books 2023), La Mala Suerte is Following Me (Charlesbridge 2024), Vera la Valiente is Scared (Beaming Books 2025), Sticky Hermana (Charlesbridge 2025), Mami’s Heart (HarperCollins 2026), If Your Abuelo is an Astronaut (Simon&Schuster 2026) among others. She also has a chapter book series coming out titled Carolina and the Creepy Creature Catchers. Ana co-founded Latinxpitch, a pitch event to promote Latin authors and illustrators. She is a global educator and PBS Media innovator. She lives in Tampa Bay with her husband and loves to play with her Cuban-Brazilian-American grandkids.

Website: Ana Siqueira – Ana – The Teacher and the Writer

About Melissa:

Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education.  Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.

Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction. 

Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.

If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

Website and Blog Read the latest blog posts and find out more about services provided by Melissa

TikTok Follow Melissa for tips and support with writing instruction!

YouTube Find out more about teaching writing as you watch webinars and model lessons taught by Melissa

LinkedIn Connect with Melissa!