This Writing Roundtable episode features Valerie Bolling discussing her book, Goal Setting in the Writing Classroom: Building Student Agency, Independence, and Success. Valerie shares what inspired her focus on writing, goal setting, and how teachers can balance guidance with student ownership. She explains how to model goal setting, teach effective strategies, and assess student progress. Valerie also addresses common challenges teachers face and offers practical solutions. This episode provides valuable insights into fostering agency and independence in young writers.

Go Deeper: Here are several Two Writing Teachers blog posts and past podcast episodes that deal with the topics discussed in this episode:

• A Few Tips for Small Group Instruction
• Build Strong Writers with Executive Function Tools
• Increasing Student Agency as Writers
• Student Agency, Self-Assessment, and Small Group Instruction
• Student Seminars and Goal-Setting
• The Power of Goal-Setting

Valerie Bolling is an award-winning 30-year educator/author who has written over 10 books for children; Goal Setting in the Writing Classroom: Building Student Agency, Independence, and Success is her first book for teachers, and she has two others on the way. Follow these links to find Valerie online:

• Website
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• Facebook
• X
• Linkedin

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