Craft & Draft

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

“Why, when I come to your room, are your students just reading?”

This is a question that Jacob and Pam have heard over the years regarding reading time in their workshop.

In this episode Jacob and Pam share how they responded to such a question. Jacob explains how his students read because of their access to books in his classroom library. Pam addresses how she has directly responded to this question both inside and outside of her classroom.  

They each share how they approach reading time in their workshop and how they make it an effective practice. Both agree that reading involves authentic rigor and the best type of practice that sponsors growth.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Join Jacob and Pam as they challenge the misperception many educators have about reading in the classroom. Reading time? It’s a must!

The post #63 Students are JUST Reading?! appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

Today we are talking about where we get our lessons, and how we think through them.

As more and more curriculum becomes following specific guides, and online resources promise to close gaps, it’s becoming ever more popular to find lessons, rather than make them…or is it?

Pam and Jacob discuss this and so much more on this episode of Craft & Draft!

The post #62 Where Do We Get Our Lessons? appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

Now it’s time to publish! 

In this episode Jacob and Pam share how they take their students through the publishing stage in the writing process. They each talk about their process and what steps they bring the students through in order to allow for publishing.  Pam shares how time manages to slip into the equation and limit how far she is able to take her students through the entire process. A discussion follows regarding time, restrictions placed by grades, and other items to consider while taking students through to publication.

Join Jacob and Pam as they consider the writing process and how to ensure the students receive the full benefits of workshop in the least-restrictive environment for our writers.

The post #61 Publishing appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

The podcast opens with a question from the audience all about finding the “go to” resources for workshop, and then Pam and Jacob decide to take on the task of detailing how to weave reading and writing together in workshop.

They discuss what’s difficult about it, how they plan for this combination, and just about everything in between…Classic Craft & Draft style.

You don’t want to miss this one!

The post #60 Weaving Reading and Writing Together appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

Giving students choices to select their books and writing pieces often feels like the teacher is giving up his or her control of the classroom. Teachers who teach using the workshop format are often misunderstood and find themselves as individual islands amongst their colleagues. 

In this episode Jacob and Pam address the times when they have been misunderstood due to their pedagogical beliefs about teaching reading and writing.  Offering students choice remains the number one principle that has caused them to feel misunderstood. Teachers and administrators shy away from implementing a workshop classroom when they are dealing with the many choices in the workshop or they become misunderstood educators.

Jacob and Pam share how they each handle the various types of reading and writing occurring in her workshop all at the same time. 

The post #59 Keeping Control While Giving Choice appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

All the extra stuff makes scheduling the workshop difficult.  How do you find the sweet spot?

Jacob opens the show by sharing the best advice he received earlier in his career and still uses today!  Pam shares how her workshop has changed over her years of teaching. They both explain how they manage time and organize their workshops.

Pam opens her workshop with reading and encourages her students to respond to their reading. She illustrates how she ties all the parts of her workshop to the standards. Jacob schedules his mini-lessons coupled with the standard at the beginning of his workshop before he allows his students to read and write.

Join Jacob and Pam as they share the struggle of scheduling and keeping their workshops authentic. The bottom line—read and write daily and create an empowered community!

The post #58 Scheduling Your Workshop appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

In this episode, Pam and Jacob answer a listener question about setting norms for the workshop, as it connects to setting up Craft and Draft books.

From there, they go on a journey of discussing how purpose comes about in the workshop, and how conferring, mini-lessons, and assessments tie together to help us support the students in our classrooms.

Filled with laughter and honest discussion, you don’t want to miss this hour long episode!

The post #57 Establishing Purpose to Increase Learning appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

Teachers have good days and bad days. When our days go different than planned, we realize we need to reset. We reset our mind-set, our strategies, and our systems so we can support our students.

Jacob shares how dealt with a rough class a few years ago. His insight helps Pam take a step back and reflect on her craft and how she might adjust problem solve for success. She had a tough week with a rough ending on Friday.

Join Jacob and Pam as they figure out how to rise to the occasion when the going gets tough in the classroom.  Always remember tomorrow is a different day and on that day a student will need us too!

The post #56 Hard Times appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring to you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

Neophyte writers struggle to develop their voice or style. Jacob and Pam discuss how they  help students find their writing voices.

But before they begin they offer tribute to the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Pam shares how she worked through that tragic day in the classroom with her students.

Jacob shares how he provides opportunities for students to imitate to discover their voices then use that imitation to cultivate their voices.  Pam discusses finding topics that they care about and other strategies that help develop voice.   

The two also answered some listener questions…were yours answered? Listen in and find out! (Or submit one to be answered NEXT week!) 

Join Jacob and Pam as they talk about voice! Help your students find and cultivate the voices they already have and express it through their writing!

The post #55 Finding and Cultivating Student Voice appeared first on Craft & Draft.

Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring to you what we love, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching.

This week Jacob and Pam respond to a question from a listener regarding how do teachers need to bring their parents into the workshop process. 

Orienting parents to the ways if the workshop based classroom becomes a daunting challenge for teachers. Bringing parents and guardians on board is often a positive experience.  In this episode, Pam shares some past experiences involving parents within her workshop. Jacob leads a brainstorming type session regarding innovative strategies to include parents.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss the pros and cons of inviting the public to the process!  Expand your workshop community, too!!

The post #54 Expanding Workshop BEYOND the Classroom appeared first on Craft & Draft.