Craft & Draft: Recent Episodes
Jacob Chastain & Pam Ochoa
Join top educator host and creator of the Teach Me, Teacher podcast, Jacob Chastain, and his colleague and Abydos trainer, Pam Ochoa, as they share their expertise on the workshop model within the secondary classroom. Using their versatile Craft & Draft approach to reading-writing workshop as their foundation for creating a powerful secondary workshop, each episode will include deep discussions on the nuances of workshop teaching, fostering authentic readers and writers, and creating an equitable standards-based classroom.
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.
Many curriculum documents do not include time for low-stakes writing, but it is through such writing that students become comfortable with the blank page and become more fluid writers.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss why teachers must create opportunities for low-stakes writing moments in the classroom. Jacob shares how he is working with his teachers as they discover how to create writing moments in their lessons. Pam discusses how this type of writing helps develop stronger writers.
Join Jacob and Pam as they explain why low-stakes writing is a must!
The post #212 Low-stakes Writing: Why? appeared first on Craft & Draft.
In this episode of Craft & Draft, we dive into the delicate balance teachers face when navigating political discussions in the classroom. How can educators remain neutral while still encouraging students to explore diverse ideas? We’ll discuss the importance of fostering an environment where students can debate concepts openly, without fear of backlash or repercussions. Join us as we unpack the challenges of handling political discourse, the implications of a chilling climate on democratic education, and strategies for creating a safe space for exploration and dialogue. Don’t miss this critical conversation on shaping informed, engaged citizens in our schools!
The post #211 Navigating Political Seasons as an Educator 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 concept of a school library is changing under the pressure of current technology trends in the schools and the current perception of how schools should meet the needs of the community. Jacob and Pam discuss how we all may need to slow down and reflect upon the importance of the school library.
Jacob shares how his school is implementing an open concept to create an inviting library. Pam includes an experience where she finds herself in the middle of a books or media conflict between a librarian and a principal.
Join Jacob and Pam as they reflect upon the school library!
The post #210 A Focus on the School Library 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.
We are trying something new: an episode that targets a specific strategy. This (previous) bonus episode will focus on Quickwrites and how we use them during our writing workshops.
Pam shares how Linda Reif presented the Quickwrites from her book The Quickwrites Book. Jacob share how he incorporates them in his mini-lessons.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss how they utilize Quickwrites in their workshops. Let us know how you like this new style of podcast.
The post #209 How We Use QuickWrites in Writing 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, Jacob and Pam discuss whether or not teachers should use the academic language of the standards with their students.
Pam shares how over the years this topic has prompted many discussions due the differing teacher opinions over academic or kid friendly language. She also explains how she worked with the standards in her classroom.
Jacob discusses the level of rigor that must be applied when implementing the standards in teacher lessons. He also talks about when he uses scaffolds to help students meet the level of rigor required by the standards.
Join Jacob and Pam as they consider whether the standards need to be used with academic or kid friendly language.
The post #208 Standards: Academic or Kid Friendly 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, Jacob and Pam answer a listener’s question regarding how to teach when the district implements a boxed reading curriculum. Jacob suggests that teachers need to review the curriculum and determine areas where workshop teaching could naturally occur. Pam advocates to look for moments to use a workshop approach in smaller increments to assist in implementing the curriculum.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss how to keep the workshop going in the reading and writing classroom even if you feel boxed-in.
The post #207 Workshop in a Boxed Curriculum appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Hello everyone! In this LIVE PD, Pam and Jacob dove into what the future of your workshop could look like. AKA… Previously, this episode was a PATREON only episode. If you’d like to see the video, join us here.
We give practical advice and outline what a mini-theme can do for you within actual lesson ideas.
Enjoy!
The post #206 Develop the Future of Your Workshop (PD) 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, Jacob and Pam share their thoughts on various topics from discipline to technology. Jacob is excited about his new beginnings and shares how great it is to have the teachers back in such a positive environment. Pam is thankful for how positive his year is beginning, but is worried about those who are not as fortunate.
Join Jacob and Pam as they explore several aspects of education. Wishing all of you a positive and fun year!
The post #205 A Wide Array of Workshop Wonderings 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 new school year is around the corner for many teachers. Creating a strong and healthy Reading and Writing Workshop for students begins on the first day of school.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss what teachers want to do when they start their workshop. Jacob begins with how to allow students to experience the reading and the writing workshop. Pam expresses how important it is for the teachers to plan how they want their workshop to be structured for their students. They each include some tips and possible lesson topics that will help teachers as they begin their school year.
Join Jacob and Pam as they you steer toward a successful workshop. May you and your students have a great start to a great workshop year!
The post #204 The Dos of Starting 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.
The new school year is around the corner for many teachers. Creating a strong and healthy Reading and Writing Workshop for students begins on the first day of school.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss what teachers do not want to do when they start their workshop. Jacob begins with don’t wait until the second week to allow students to experience the workshop. Pam continues with don’t assign a mundane typical writing assignment as the first piece of writing for the year. They each refer to other don’ts they have learned over the years.
Join Jacob and Pam as they steer you away from some of the pitfalls that can easily occur during the first weeks of your workshop! May you and your students have a great start to a great workshop year!
The post #203 The Don’ts of Starting Workshop appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Several of the Craft and Draft listeners have requested more information regarding how to set-up the Craft and Draft Notebook System
They begin with the first page of the Craft Book. Jacob shares how he has his students organize their Craft Book from the table of contents to the individual mini-lessons, and includes how students set goals. Pam discusses how each element enables the teacher to monitor student growth.
If you want to see this presentation, and gain exclusive access to hours of professional development, support us here.
Thank you again for your support!
The post #202 The Craftbook and Draftbook Tutorial appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome to Craft & Draft, where we explore the art of teaching and the science of learning. In today’s episode, hosts Pam Ochoa and Jacob Chastain continue their summer book study of “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler.
Jacob and Pam as they share their final thoughts about the book, The Knowledge Gap. They each share how this book has highlighted some real issues in American education. Pam shared her take on how the book addresses writing and what she thinks should be implemented in classrooms. Jacob discusses why he thinks a predetermined core of knowledge may not be the best solutions for future schools.
Join Jacob and Pam as they complete the discussion on the book as well as some other workshop thoughts!
If you want to hear all of their takes on The Knowledge Gap, click here and get access to hours of bonus content and videos.
Finally, at the top of the show, Pam and Jacob take time to acknowledge the tragedy of political violence that surrounded President Trump and the bystanders who were wounded in an assassination attempt.
The post #201 The Knowledge Gap Has Gaps appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome to Craft & Draft, where we explore the art of teaching and the science of learning. In today’s episode, hosts Pam Ochoa and Jacob Chastain continue their summer book study of “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler.
Join them as they explore chapters eleven, twelve and the epilogue in section three, “How We Can Change: Creating and Delivering a Content-Focused Curriculum.” Jacob and Pam critique the argument Wexler proposes regarding writing instruction and her conclusion.
Pam discusses Wexler’s juxtaposition of two forms of writing instruction: Judith Hochman’s “Writing Revolution” and Lucy Calkins’ “Writer’s Workshop.” Jacob explains her final arguments regarding “The Knowledge Gap” and how her solutions may or may not work.
Listen to all of the content of the Knowledge Gap Book Study HERE.
The post #200 The Knowledge Gap Book Study Finale and Our Thoughts appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome to Craft & Draft, where we explore the art of teaching and the science of learning. In today’s episode, hosts Pam Ochoa and Jacob Chastain continue their summer book study of “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler.
Join us as they explore chapters nine and ten in section three, “How We Can Change: Creating and Delivering a Content-Focused Curriculum.” Jacob and Pam critique the argument Wexler proposes regarding a content-focused curriculum. Jacob addresses her argument against skills based learning such as using ‘mini-lessons’ followed by students grappling with difficult text. Pam shares how she remembers these arguments historically and how they impacted her throughout the years. Will Natalie Wexler convince Jacob and Pam before the book ends?
Hear the full episode here by clicking here to support the show on Patreon.
The post #199 Chapters 9-10 of The Knowledge Gap (Book Study) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome to Craft & Draft, where we explore the art of teaching and the science of learning. In today’s episode, hosts Pam Ochoa and Jacob Chastain continue their summer book study of “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler.
Join us as they explore chapters seven and eight in section two, “How We Got Here: The History Behind the Content-Free Curriculum.” Pam and Jacob discuss what knowledge actually is and what it will mean to education if the curriculum is narrowed to a selection of ‘appropriate knowledge.’ They each discuss bias and how it impacts testing and what is taught.
We also answer and read YOUR comments posted in the Patreon. Listen to see what we said about them! (But only here.)
Drop your comments, questions, or concerns below! We’d love to talk with you about this.
The post #198 Chapters 7-8 of The Knowledge Gap (Book Study) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome to Craft & Draft, where we explore the art of teaching and the science of learning. In today’s episode, hosts Pam Ochoa and Jacob Chastain continue their summer book study of “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler.
Join us as they explore the second three chapters of section one, The history of the Reading Wars. Pam and Jacob discuss the political aspect which plays a large role in the conflict. They each share how these wars have impacted their teaching career and so much more.
If you’re eager to join the full conversation, head over to our Patreon and unlock access to the entire hour and 45-minute episode. Don’t miss out on this thought-provoking discussion!
The post #197 Chapters 4-6 of The Knowledge Gap (Book Study) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome to Craft & Draft, where we explore the art of teaching and the science of learning. In today’s episode, hosts Pam Ochoa and Jacob Chastain kick off their summer book study diving into “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler.
Join us as we dissect the first three chapters, delving into how reading is often taught in isolation, the limitations of phonics instruction, and the challenges young learners face in engaging with complex content like science and social studies. Pam and Jacob share their insights, questioning the effectiveness of standardized tests and exploring what closing the knowledge gap truly means for educators.
If you’re eager to join the full conversation, head over to our Patreon and unlock access to the entire hour and 45-minute episode. Don’t miss out on this thought-provoking discussion!
The post #196 Chapters 1-3 of The Knowledge Gap (Book Study) 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.
This summer on the podcast, Jacob and Pam will discuss the book, “The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System–And How to Fix It” by Natalie Wexler. The book addresses reading instruction and how it does not allow students to learn the type of knowledge they need to become efficient readers.
Each podcast will discuss the various topics and chapters in the book. This study promises to be complete with reflection, case studies, and thoughts on solutions for a deficient educational system.
Jacob and Pam will continue a more in-depth study on their Patreon channel. It will include interactive questions and further group discussion as well as live interactive sessions.
Join Jacob and Pam during their book study!
The post #195 The Knowledge Gap Book Study (Join Us!) 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 talk about their idea of what “The Learning Gap” is and whether or not it is real. Jacob looks at it from a literacy perspective while Pam shares how two different educational approaches are impacting young readers.
This summer Jacob and Pam are committing to read The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System and How to Fix It by Natalie Wexler. They will discuss the book during the next episodes as well as complete a book study on the Craft and Draft Workshop Patreon.
Join Jacob and Pam during this recharge and professional development. If you want, get the book and follow along. It will be a great summer!
The post #194 Is the Knowledge Gap Real? (Book Study Intro) 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.
It’s interview time! Interviews are often scarry, but they do not need to be. In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss the interview process.
Pam shares about one of her successful interviews and one of her not so successful interviews. Jacob shares a few interesting moments from his interviews.
They each discuss tips and moments for a successful interview. Jacob shares what teachers may want to consider as they answer questions during the interview. Pam discusses types of questions teachers may want to ask in the interview when given the opportunity to ask questions.
Join Jacob and Pam while they discuss interviewing. Maybe you will find a few tips to keep you calm and be yourself!
The post #193 How to Get an English Teaching Job appeared first on Craft & Draft.
lcome 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.
Another school year is coming to a close! How can teachers close their year and keep the learning happening in the classroom?
In this episode, Jacob and Pam talk about how to keep the students learning. Pam shares several of her year end experiences, projects and ideas. Jacob explains how reflective activities help the students remember what they learned about reading and writing.
They both explain how teachers will want to create experiences that connect personally and contain high interest opportunities. Jacob states that if the workshop teacher has taught their students to love and appreciate reading and writing, then ending the year with longer time periods to read and write will keep students working until the end.
Join Jacob and Pam as they explore several end of year possibilities for reading and writing workshop classrooms!
The post #192 Closing the Year Strong 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, Jacob and Pam discuss many topics from how to figure out who you people are in a new campus to how to study and deeply understand literature. Most of the conversation is about understanding literature and how to help our students make deeper connections to what they read.
Jacob shares how teachers need to create moments that allow students individualized experiences with their book studies. Pam speaks on all the ways students can connect to books in general. They each explain how they approach literature in their reading workshop.
Join Jacob and Pam as they make connections to book studies in the classroom!
The post #191 How to Study Literature 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.
Do schools ruin poetry? Often…they do. But why? Poetry is an incredible art form. It can be powerful, insightful, and even humorous. So why does the love of poetry die inside school?
We have some thoughts.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss!
The post #190 Schools Ruin Poetry 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.
‘What is an assignment?’ seems like a simple question, until it is discussed.
In this episode Jacob and Pam dive into the ‘What is an assignment?’ question. Pam begins by trying to answer the question and soon realizes that the answer is complicated due to the complexity found in education. Jacob does a quick search to get a more formal answer.
Jacob shares how teachers assign work in various ways. They both share how they have assigned work and graded it in their own classrooms. The consensus is that the work assigned must match the learning goal.
Join Jacob and Pam as they think about assignments and reflect on how teachers will want to use them in their own workshops!
The post #189 What is an Assignment? 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, Jacob and Pam take a quiz straight from Education Weekly. The quiz asks questions from teacher salary, to teacher PD preferences.
The quiz prompts Jacob and Pam to discuss each scenario or topic that is relevant to teachers today. Their conversation includes whether or not they agree with each other as well as other aspects of the educational profession.
Join Jacob and Pam to see how well we all know America’s teachers!
Want to see behind the scenes of this episode and us take the test? Click here.
The post #188 How Much Do We Know About American Teachers? 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.
Jacob just took some students to visit a few colleges and universities. The visit propagated the question, “Are schools effectively readying their students for college?”
In this episode, Jacob and Pam talk about why college readiness is still important. They each share their own college experiences. They both realize that the experiences are completely opposite from each other. Pam shares how she played volleyball in college, made friends and networked. She goes down a short visit on memory lane about how much she enjoyed her time there. Jacob shares how most of his experience was on-line, so he missed a lot of the social aspects of attending college on-campus.
They both move into what educators need to do to effectively prepare students for college.
Join Jacob and Pam as they think through why schools may not be getting students ready for college, and what the schools need to do about it.
The post #187 What is College Readiness? 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.
Every year in the education world, educators are trying to figure out if they should stay at their school or district or leave. Jacob and Pam discuss the question, “When do you know whether you should stay, look for another place, or quit?”
In this episode, Pam shares how she made decisions to move to other schools and districts throughout her career. She explains how sometimes she moved for reasons outside her control and at other times she moved because she wanted to achieve a professional goal.
Jacob also explains how he has made his decisions to stay or move throughout his career.
Join Jacob and Pam as they offer a little advice to those who are facing the choice to stay, move, or quit.
The post #186 It’s That Time of Year: To Stay or To Quit appeared first on Craft & Draft.
In this bonus episode for our Craft and Draft patrons we answer Courtney’s question regarding the test taking season.
Jacob shares how he begins broad in his workshop and then narrows his scope as his students approach the test. This approach allows him to create a workshop atmosphere full of exploration, discovery and creativity.
Pam shares how she focuses the students toward the standard and helps them ‘work’ the test. She uses the ‘Think Aloud’ strategy form Laura Robb to model how to read test questions.
Join Jacob and Pam as they share these techniques and other test prep ideas. Respond with some ideas that use, too!
***This episode was previously published only for Patreon supporters.
The post #185 Test-Prep Strategies! (Patreon Episode) 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.
It seems that the notion, ‘Students can’t read’ is always at the forefront of public conversations these days. So much so writing instruction seems to have taken a back seat in the classroom.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam talk about how writing is the flipside of the literacy coin. You can not have one without the other. They both make an argument that student centered sponsored writing assists students with their ability to read. Jacob shares how he and his principal at his past school made writing across the curriculum mandatory. He speaks about the positive results the school received due to this practice.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss the role of authentic writing instruction and how it needs to be maintained in the Reading and Language Arts classroom!
The post #184 Reading or Writing: What Matters Most? 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.
Reading workshop is designed to help students to create their reading loves and sponsor a love for reading; however, the other side (so to speak) says that this philosophy is not helping students be better readers.
So the question remains, “Should teachers teach a love for reading?”
In this episode, Jacob and Pam meander through the topic of teaching a love for reading. Jacob shares how it seems with the claims our children can’t read, English and Reading teachers are being blamed. Pam responds with some personal stories from home and the classrooms where she learned to read.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss the love of reading and how it should or should not be taught in the classroom. Let us know what you decide!
The post #183 Does it Matter if Teachers Teach a Love for 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.
It has been a busy year and the time of essay writing is upon everyone. Educators in all situations are feeling the pressure to get their students up to par composing essays.
In this episode, Pam discusses how she goes about teaching the essay. She shares some of the resources that she has used to get her up to speed in years past. Pam explains why workshop teachers must allow the students to write from their own experiences. These experiences come from their own life but can also be found from their responses to the materials and texts they read in class or on their own.
Join Pam as she shares all the possibilities of essay writing. As Barry Lane once said, “…they need to be shown possibilities.” May you find some possibilities to use in the writing workshop.
The post #182 Essays and Possibilities 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.
This episode was previously published as a BONUS for Patreon. If you want more episodes like this, or if you just want to support the show, click here.
Jacob and Pam want to begin by thanking you for your support!
In this bonus episode Jacob and Pam explain why they use two notebooks, a Craft Book and a Draft Book.
Pam begins by sharing a workshop experience where she had to reset and restart the workshop. She also explains how she uses two notebooks to help clarify for the students when to study and when to apply the lessons that occur in her Reading and Writing Workshop.
Jacob reflects upon the purpose of why he uses two notebooks. He explains how ownership plays a role. Jacob highlights the importance of putting students first. When he did this, it helped him determine why he uses two notebooks.
Join Jacob and Pam while they reflect upon why they have chosen two notebooks. Let this help you decide what is best for your students, too!
The post #181 Why Two Notebooks? 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.
This episode was previously published as a BONUS for Patreon. If you want more episodes like this, or if you just want to support the show, click here.
School does stress us out; however, school is a place we love! In this bonus episode, Jacob and Pam share how much they are feeling the pressure and stress of deadlines, paperwork, behavior issues, and the strive for success.
Jacob shares how much he enjoys going into other teachers’ classrooms during his academic walks. During his walk through the world language classes, he notices how the teachers are using a workshop approach and teaching grammar within the context of learning language. He and Pam share how this approach transfers in the ELAR classroom as well.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss stress in the school environment. Maybe it will help you if you are stressed, too!
The post #180 We Talk About Stress 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, Jacob and Pam dialogue about the most essential element for a school to have success. Jacob speaks on how educators must love […]
The post #179 This is What Schools Need to be Successful 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. This episode was previously unreleased on FREE feeds and was only available for our Patreon supporters. If you want more episodes like this and more […]
The post #178 Filler Lessons for the Unexpected Day 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, Jacob and Pam focus on how education may be changing. Jacob asks Pam why it seems schools are leaning more on programs […]
The post #177 Will Programs Replace Teachers? appeared first on Craft & Draft.
THIS EPISODE WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED FOR THE SHOW’S PATREON SUPPORTERS. If you enjoy this, please consider supporting the show here and get many more episodes and training videos NOT released on free feeds. Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with you about […]
The post #176 GT and STAAR Writing HELP 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, Jacob and Pam dive into how to set-up a classroom. Jacob explains how a teacher places the desks will make a difference […]
The post #175 Set-up (literally) the Classroom for Success 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. Jacob and Pam begin the new year with memories. They talk about food, grandparents,as well as the differences between country life and city life. The […]
The post #174 From Memories to Empowered Writers 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, Jacob and Pam think about all that hinders learning in the classroom from no time to mandates and many other factors that […]
The post #173 From Ancient Discoveries to Keeping Kids 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam talk about the importance of story. Pam attended the Abydos International Writing Trainers’ and Teachers’ conference and she came […]
The post #172 The Importance of a Personal Story (pt.2) 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, Jacob and Pam talk about the importance of story. Pam attended the Abydos International Writing Trainers’ and Teachers’ conference and she came […]
The post #171 The Importance of a Personal Story appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Several of the Craft and Draft listeners have requested more information regarding how to set-up the Craft and Draft Notebook System They begin with the first page of the Craft Book. Jacob shares how he has his students organize their Craft Book from the table of contents to the individual mini-lessons, and includes how students […]
The post #170 A Journal System that WORKS (Tutorial) 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. As school moves into the holiday season, many teachers are wondering what they need to do to maintain growth and move the students forward. In […]
The post #169 Capturing Where We’ve Been LIVE (pt.2) 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. As school moves into the holiday season, many teachers are wondering what they need to do to maintain growth and move the students forward. In […]
The post #168 Capturing Where We’ve Been LIVE (pt.1) 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, Jacob and Pam share how they are thankful for you, our audience! So they want to give back and create some bonus […]
The post Join Craft & Draft LIVE All Week to Rejuvenate Your Workshop appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Support the show on Patreon to get access to bonus episodes, training videos, and so much more. Click here to join our community. 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. This episode […]
The post #167 Nuances, Complexities, Science of Reading, and More appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Support the show on Patreon to get access to bonus episodes, training videos, and so much more. Click here to join our community. 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 […]
The post #166 Building Reading Culture in your Classroom (pt.2) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Support the show on Patreon to get access to bonus episodes, training videos, and so much more. Click here to join our community. 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 […]
The post #165 Building Writing Culture in your Classroom (pt.1) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
You can listen to this full episode right now by supporting us on Patreon. 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. How do you know your students are progressing before the final […]
The post #164 Checkpoints for Progress (pt.2) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
You can listen to this full episode right now by supporting us on Patreon. 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. How do you know your students are progressing before the final […]
The post #163 Checkpoints for Progress (pt.1) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
You can hear the entire episode by supporting us on Patreon today by clicking this link. Thank you for listening! If you missed part one, When Planning in Groups Goes Wrong, check it out here. Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we love, talking with […]
The post #162 When Planning in Groups Goes Right (pt.2) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
You can hear the entire episode by supporting us on Patreon today by clicking this link. If you can’t no worries—part 2 will drop next week for everyone who can’t support the show directly. Thank you for listening! Welcome everyone to the Craft & Draft podcast! We are so excited to bring you what we […]
The post #161 When Planning in Groups Goes Wrong (pt.1) appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Hello everyone! This is a sample of a bonus episode that you can get if you join us on Patreon. We answer listener questions like this all the time, and would love to tailor episodes to your needs. Click here if you would like us to help you out with a specific question. In today’s […]
The post #160 Getting Buy in from Students in Reading (Listener Question) 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, Jacob and Pam discuss what happens when teachers are open-minded and want to learn about being a better educator from mentors such […]
The post #159 Are You Coachable? 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.
Juggling the multiple obligations, necessary planning, PLC meetings, daily personal situations, and many other necessary tasks, managing time seems impossible. No matter how one sums it up, all of it is important and necessary. So, the question remains, “How can we get back some of our time?”
In this episode, Jacob and Pam answer one of our patron’s questions about time management. Pam looks back on a few times where she is still surprised she was able to manage. She shares a few of the lessons she learned during her busiest times. Jacob demonstrates how he uses Chat GPT to regain some of his time. He explains how he uses Chat GPT to plan a week’s worth of lessons in just a few minutes.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss ways to manage time as an educator. Maybe you will find a little something to help you with time, too!
The post # 158 Solving Time Management with ChatGPT 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. Libraries have been a part of our communities for centuries. They began as a repository of knowledge in the ancient days, so other scholars could […]
The post #157 Libraries Are Essential 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, Jacob and Pam address how to keep teaching when resources are limited. They each identify possible reasons for the situation and then […]
The post #156 Teaching with LIMITED Resources 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, Jacob and Pam answer a listener’s question about making the part and parcel of a new curriculum fit into the workshop so […]
The post #155 Making the Curriculum Fit and Flow Through Workshop appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Hello everyone! This is a small excerpt from our exclusive BONUS PATREON episode. We do these episodes every month, and they are usually fully exclusive. Do to the importance of this one, we wanted to let you hear a part of it and then hopefully come support us to the hear the rest and have […]
The post #154 Workshopping the Science of Reading (Bonus Episode) 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 shares a presentation from her past, “Activating Writers with Mentor Texts.” Pam explains how she uses mentor texts to activate her […]
The post #153 Activating Writers with Mentor Texts (Bonus Video) 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. August is here and the new school year is around the corner! In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss how the new year brings new […]
The post #152 New School Year… New Us? 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, Jacob and Pam explore how reading and writing workshop enable teachers to comply with the accommodations and modifications of their special needs […]
The post #151 Workshop and Special Needs Students 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 two part episode, Jacob and Pam answer a question about the day in the life of a workshop teacher’s classroom during part one. […]
The post #150 Working with Difficult Colleagues (pt.2) 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 two part episode, Jacob and Pam answer a question about the day in the life of a workshop teacher’s classroom during part one. […]
The post #149 A Day in the Life of a Workshop Teacher (Part 1) 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. Should Jacob buy a new car? If so, what should he buy? Jacob and Pam discuss such questions, but most of all they discuss the […]
The post #148 Annotation is to Reading as Diagramming is to Grammar 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. With new technology such as Chat GPT, plagiarism seems to be a huge issue in the writing classroom. Does it need to be a problem? […]
The post #147 Plagiarism: What Can Teachers Do About It? 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, Jacob and Pam take a look at GPTChat and try out some lesson ideas. Jacob queries Pam on how she used it […]
The post #146 We Rate ChatGPT Lessons for English Language Arts 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. Join Jacob and Pam on an eye-opening journey as they delve into the fascinating and thought-provoking topic: ‘Should teachers fear technology in classrooms?’ In this […]
The post #145 Artificial Intelligence is Here to Stay 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, Jacob gave several presentations at a workshop for a nearby district. He enjoyed his day, so he is ending it with some reflection.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss the art of presentation. During Jacob’s reflection, he began to ask how do you know how to time yourself… “How long is too long? How much interaction do you need with the audience? When do you need to be flexible? And so on”.
Pam shares her answers to many of these questions and discusses how she goes about preparing for her presentations. Jacob shares what he thinks is most important when considering what should be presented.
Join Jacob and Pam as they reflect on ‘The Art of Presentation.’ If you present or want to begin maybe you will find some thoughts to help you, too!
The post #144 The Art of Presentation 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, Jacob is an assistant principal, which means he will be at work next week closing out the year. He will be reflecting on the successes and almost successes of the year, as well as, begin planning for next year with his administrative team. Jacob shares how he hates endings. School is over for the students, so Jacob finds that when the students leave he hates how much he misses them.
Pam sees endings in a different light. She says it depends on the type of ending. Endings for her are often the opportunities for new beginnings.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss whether or not endings are endings or the opportunity to create new beginnings. What are they for you?
The post #143 On Endings… and Beginnings 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, Jacob and Pam answer questions from our listeners:
Back in 2020 you guys did a podcast on Top PD books to buy. Do you think you would ever do an updated one? Would there be any books you have read since that you would add?
This will be my first time doing reading conferences, and I will also have to incorporate social studies content. I would love any advice…
Join Jacob and Pam while they answer the questions and share how they would go about using social studies books and blend them in the reading and writing workshop!
The post #142 PD Books, Our Book, and Reading Conferences Q&A 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, Jacob and Pam discuss how to help students build their confidence. Students who struggle throughout school often shut down. When this happens, teachers must figure out how to help them become more confident in themselves.
Pam expresses how important teaching process rather than the end product is to students. This allows for teachers to help celebrate growth. She talks about the students’ data, but shows them how they have grown rather than failed.
Jacob shares how workshop teaching is where teachers can take the time to build confidence. The workshop provides students to have opportunities to improve in their craft of reading and writing. It also provides time for teacher/student conferences which he uses to build up their confidence.
Join Jacob and Pam while they explore how teachers can help build student confidence. May you find ways to help your students, too!
The post #141 Helping Students Build Confidence 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.
Everyone has or will face times when life is just difficult. When those difficult times show their ugly heads, we still need to teach. The question is: “How do we keep going?”
In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss how they deal with such moments. Pam shares how she looks at teaching as a way to serve others. Jacob shares how he turns to teaching to keep himself going. They each share other ways they get through the tough times while maintaining their roles as educators.
Join Jacob and Pam as they share how to keep on going when they face difficult times. Maybe you will find a little something to help you keep going, too!
The post #140 When We Face Difficult Times 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.
Pam asks Jacob a question: “Jacob how do you know as an assistant principal when the teacher you are interviewing is the person for the job?”
In this episode, the question becomes the topic for the entire episode. Jacob answers the question by sharing how he knew a past colleague was perfect for his team. He then flips the question and asks Pam how she answers specific types of questions.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss the interview and their own experiences with interviews. May the discussion help you with your own interviewing processes, too!
The post The Interview: What Makes It Great! 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.
Everyone is headed for the homestretch! With all the demands left for this year and the expectations for next year, it is easy to lose focus on the students.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam remind each other how the focus needs to stay on the students. Jacob asks, “How do you know if you are keeping your focus on the students?” They each discuss what they do to ensure their workshop is student-centered.
Join Jacob and Pam as they regain their focus on the students! Maybe it will help you reflect on your focus, too!
The post #138 Keeping the Focus on the Students 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.
During a high stakes season, Pam is wondering what would be best: base her lessons on skills, genres, or themes. Curriculum will follow one of the three to center the organization of its scope and sequence. Standards focus on skills. So the question remains: when teachers plan their lessons, which one should be the focus.
Jacob and Pam discuss how they use all three in their reading and writing workshops.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss the three focal points for lesson design. Maybe their discussion will help you decide how you want to approach your next set of lessons for a high stake testing season!
The post #137 Lessons Through Skills, Genres, or Themes? 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 been told if they are not doing stations or centers then they are not using a workshop.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam revisit the workshop model as a practice to facilitate teaching reading and writing. Pam shares how she is concerned that too many educators consider stations as workshop. She has noticed that this brings about confusion and hinders the flow of the workshop. Jacob reinforces that centers have a place in instruction, but are not necessarily the workshop model.
Join Jacob and Pam as they work through how stations and centers compare to the workshop model.
The post #136 Are Stations or Centers 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.
The word context is derived from the Latin word contexere meaning to weave. In a workshop environment the teacher is weaving situations that offer tools for students to think, develop voice, and discover their passion.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss how they create an atmosphere that enables students to learn about language in the context of authentic reading and writing. Jacob shares how he and teachers on his campus empower students through diversity of thought. Pam tells how programs and some curriculum mandates paralyzes the reading and writing processes in a workshop.
Join Jacob and Pam as they meander through this idea of creating context in order to promote literacy. May you find a nugget to help you, too!
The post #135 Creating Context (and all the musings) 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.
Technology makes cheating in the classroom easier than ever before!
In this episode, Jacob and Pam talk about cheating and what they do about it. Jacob shares how some of the newest technology is creating concern at the high school, especially on essays. Pam discusses why students want to take shortcuts in their learning.
Pam shares how she uses process writing in the classroom during class work time to ensure her students are working on their own creations. Jacob reinforces her comments by explaining how students need assignments centered around their interests and experiences.
Jacob and Pam as they discuss ways to curb cheating. Maybe you can find ways to help you, too!
The post #134 Curb Cheating in the Classroom 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.
Jacob and Pam have noticed that moving into the spring semesters, teachers become overwhelmed with all the demands of teaching.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss the “small stuff” of teaching that gets everyone overwhelmed. How important is the small stuff and do teachers need to ignore it or pay attention to it?
Join Jacob and Pam as they meander through a list of teaching demands and discuss how to deal with them. Hopefully it will help you work through your “small stuff,” too.
The post #133 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff 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.
A few episodes ago, Jacob and Pam discussed how to be ready for administrative walkthroughs or observations. In this episode, they talk about Instructional Rounds!
Pam shares how these exercises have changed over time. She has found that some are more effective than others. Jacob explains how he has been a large part of the instructional walkthroughs as an administrator and how they have helped with vertical alignment. They each share how the focus makes each observation unique and beneficial.
Join Jacob and Pam as meander through the various ways teachers and administrators can use Instructional Rounds!
The post #132 Instructional Rounds 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.
First off in this episode, Pam asks Jacob about his puppy. Then Jacob tells a goat story…
And then the duo go off on a journey to discuss why workshop teaching is taking a backseat in the conversation—and in some circles—being completely bashed by people who are disregarding the practice.
Lots of discussion, laughter, and insight in this episode of Craft & Draft.
The post #131 The Animosity Growing Towards Workshop Teaching 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.
It seems ‘choice’ is under attack in our classrooms. Workshop teachers are finding themselves defending why they allow students freedom to choose their books to read, their topics on which to write as well as the mode and purpose for that writing piece.
In this episode, Jacob and Pam revisit choice in the reading and writing workshop. They each discuss why choice can not be overlooked in reading and writing workshop. Pam shares her own experiences regarding how she has been able to empower student writers through giving them choices. Jacob shares why it’s important to student reading.
Join Jacob and Pam as they encourage teachers to continue using choice as a tool to engage and empower students! May you be encouraged, too.
The post #130 Choice: Why It’s a Must 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, Jacob and Pam answer a question about how to be standard focused when students read a variety of self selected texts. How do you focus on a nonfiction standard when a student is reading a fictional novel?
Jacob shares his multi-genre approach. He shares the titles of the pieces he uses when he taught the unit. Pam walks through how she incorporates all the self-selected texts in the room within the Craft Book.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss self-selected texts and how they connect the reading to the standards and other types of texts, too!
The post #129 Standards and Self-Selected Texts appeared first on Craft & Draft.
This is a bonus episode that was previously only available on the Craft & Draft Patreon Page. If you want more episodes like this, or want access to exclusive videos and online recorded and live PD sessions, join here.
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.
Jacob and Pam answer Tracy’s question about co-teaching in a writing and reading workshop.
Pam shares how she is working with her co-teacher during this year. The co-teacher helps with reading and writing conferences. She also explains how she would ‘tag team’ with another co-teacher in the past.
Jacob explains how the co-teacher provides another set of eyes that helps the workshop teacher gain a deeper understanding of the instruction and students in the classroom. He also explains how the co-teacher provides a positive take on the students and is a valuable resource for the school.
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss the opportunities that co-teachers provide for the reading and writing workshop! May it help you create a successful partnership when you work with a co-teacher, too!
The post #128 Working with a Co-Teacher in 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, Jacob and Pam dive deeper into the mini-lesson. Jacob asked Pam how she knows the mini-lesson is working. She has a little difficulty narrowing down her thoughts which leads the both of them into a rich discussion about lessons, what parts must be in one as well as how to make them relevant for the students.
Join Jacob and Pam as they meander through the subject of mini-lessons and other ‘things’ workshop. Maybe you will find a little something that will help you fine tune your lessons, too.
The post #127 The First 5 Minutes of Your Lesson 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.
It’s Spring; it’s teacher observation time!
This time of year can be the most stressful part of teaching. It is when your administrator says to the teacher, “I will be coming in for your formal observation this next week.” Often teachers begin to doubt their workshop practices.
Jacob and Pam share their worst observation moments as well as some of their positive ones. They each take their perspective (administrator/teacher) and explain how they feel about observations and how to ensure they have a positive experience.
Join Jacob and Pam while they reflect upon tips for better observations. Trust the workshop!
The post #126 How to Nail Your Teacher Observation This Year 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.
Pam has a problem trying to sort out the data that most matters to her Reading and Writing Workshop. Jacob, who reviews data from a teacher’s and administrator’s perspective helps her focus on the information that will best help her teach her students.
Jacob and Pam discuss more than data. Jacob asks Pam what is the most important aspect of comprehension in order to write an analytic response to the reading. They each discuss strategies and procedures that will pre-assess, formatively assess, and summatively assess students’ writing and reading.
Join Jacob and Pam as they share data and so much more!
The post #125 What Data Matters? 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 following is a 30min excerpt from our two hour LIVE training we did with our Patreon supporters. If you enjoy this episode, you can get the full episode at our Patreon, along with 9 bonus episodes, professional development videos, and so much more. If you want more of this, it is a WIN WIN! Hope to see you there.
Join Patreon and get the full PD HERE.
The post #124 Strategies to Increase Engagement in Workshop appeared first on Craft & Draft.
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR JAN 7th ZOOM TRAINING! Click here to secure your spot!
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.
What needs to be included in a robust reading program? Jacob and Pam discovered that this question involves robust discussion. Many educational companies offer a variety of programs promising results. Reports from research studies vary in their findings. As a result, the teaching of reading brings discussion, disagreements and sometimes confusion.
Jacob and Pam discuss this issue and share their philosophy regarding the teaching of reading. They each speak about the elements that need to be a part of a solid reading program and how they should be addressed throughout the grade levels. Jacob shares Reading Ladders as great
Join Jacob and Pam as they discuss innovative ways to adapt the Craft & Draft notebook to fit the needs of any class!
The post #123 What Makes a Robust Literacy Program? 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, Pam and Jacob take a reflective tour down their 2022 lives. They each share their top 5 moments that connect to their teacher lives in a major way. Everything from having student breakthroughs to book launches… it’s all here. Come reflect and enjoy a long discussion!
*Also announced: Craft & Draft Virtual ZOOM training on Strategies to Deepen Workshop Engagement — coming January 7th, 2023.
Join us on Patreon at the ListenerPLUS tier to reserve your spot AND gain access to over 8 hours of bonus podcasts, previous trainings, and bonus videos! Or…
Secure your spot now via Venmo for $25!Once payment is secured, you will be supplied the exclusive Zoom link (and yes, you can have access even if you do not attend the live recording). Click here to register.
For questions or concerns, please send an email here.
The post #122 Our Top 5 Teacher Moments of 2022 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, Pam and Jacob spice things up by using listener questions to jumpstart the show! The listener question comes from a longtime Patreon supporter and passionate teacher, and it reads:
“I’m really struggling with reading instruction. I teach 5th grade and we have longer blocks so they get 15-20 minutes each day to read. We also have to do read aloud everyday, which has become wasted time. I find it easy to fit my fictional reading standards in with my read aloud but I struggle with finding time to hit the informational standards. How do you teach your reading standards and the writing standards by only doing one lesson a day? Currently I try and do two lessons but it ends up cutting into their reading or writing time. I’d like to do one lesson a day but don’t know how to merge reading and writing into one lesson.” – Alisha (ListenPLUS supporter)
Are you or have you been in the same boat? We have… and we discuss and answer!
*Also announced: Craft & Draft Virtual ZOOM training on Strategies to Deepen Workshop Engagement — coming January 7th, 2023.
Join us on Patreon at the ListenerPLUS tier to reserve your spot AND gain access to over 8 hours of bonus podcasts, previous trainings, and bonus videos! Or…
Secure your spot now via Venmo for $25!Once payment is secured, you will be supplied the exclusive Zoom link (and yes, you can have access even if you do not attend the live recording). Click here to register.
For questions or concerns, please send an email here.
The post #121 One Lesson a Day to Cover Everything? 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. Jacob begins the episode sharing how he has enjoyed his first semester as an administrator. He reminds us that he is more successful when he […]
The post #120 One Notebook for a Writing Workshop Class 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 shares how she is addressing the new short constructed responses on the STAAR test, required from the redesigned. She discusses the […]
The post #119 The STAAR Short Constructed Response Strategies 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. Jacob discusses how he sees the post covid era for schools may develop and shares his perspective on how covid has impacted the work of […]
The post #118 Reading Conferences and… 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. Jacob and Pam love discussing topics provided by their listeners! In this episode, they are discussing times when teachers are required to use resources and […]
The post #117 That’s Not Good Teaching! 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, Jacob answers whether high school has reset his barometer on what books are great for kids, and then Pam guides the discussion into what […]
The post #116 Keeping Kids Engaged at This Time of Year 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 Pam and Jacob are diving into a discussion around rough making it through the ups and downs of a year of teaching… They talk […]
The post #115 It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish 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, Jacob and Pam discuss creativity and how to utilize it in the workshop. Pam shares how creativity can be taught while Jacob […]
The post #114 Fostering Creativity in Workshop Teaching 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 catch up on two listener questions—one a follow-up from last week and the next a brief discussion about paperwork… […]
The post #113 Starting with the Standard 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 explore the world of grading. They discuss practical advice, real world examples, and how grades work into workshop (plus […]
The post #112 How Grade-centric is Your Class? 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. Jacob asks, “What is writing in the writing workshop?” Pam and Jacob ponder the question and consider how writing in the workshop is different than […]
The post #111 What is Writing in Writing 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. Jacob and Pam answer a listener’s question regarding what to do when students are not following the workshop expectations. Pam empathizes with the listener and […]
The post #110 Managing Independent Work Time 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 year is going full blast! The students are comfortable with the classroom, and the honeymoon is over. In this episode, Jacob and Pam share […]
The post #109 Honeymoon is Over 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. Lesson planning is fun until it becomes an overwhelming task. Pam and Jacob love to figure out how to plan for authentic learning. When the […]
The post #108 Lesson Planning Woes 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 spend some time discussion what makes good teachers (from the mouths of students), replying to listener comments, and diving […]
The post #107 The Value in Cold Writes 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 question about how to grade authentic writing with the standard as the core focus. They then dive […]
The post #106 Grammar Matters 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, Jacob and Pam answer questions about how to teach vocabulary. They each share how they use vocabulary strategies, and teach it within […]
The post #105 Vocabulary to 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. Another year has begun! Jacob and Pam spend a bit of time sharing how the new year is going. Jacob shares how his new journey […]
The post #104 Continuing the Workshop Journey 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. Courtney, a teacher, listener and patron of Craft & Draft, wondered if it would be possible to come onto the show and ask Jacob and […]
The post #103 We Answer ALL the Questions—Part 2 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. Courtney, a teacher, listener and patron of Craft & Draft, wondered if it would be possible to come onto the show and ask Jacob and […]
The post #102 We Answer ALL the Questions: A Listener Joins Us! 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. One thing is always true about education–each new year brings changes! This year Jacob and Pam are facing changes, also. In this episode, Jacob has […]
The post #101 Jacob is an Assistant Principal, What Now? 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. Jacob and Pam had an amazing opportunity to offer a live virtual professional development workshop. They were able to interact with listeners and patrons. The […]
The post #100 Your First Day of Workshop (and BEYOND!) 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. No matter how many times Jacob and Pam work with students and adults using the process for writing, they are continuously amazed at how it […]
The post #99 Why The Workshop Process Works appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Before we begin, make sure to check out our upcoming training all about setting up your first week of workshop for success! Follow this link for more information: Training! 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, […]
The post #98 Keeping Authentic Learning the Priority 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. Jacob and Pam discuss reading growth, sustained reading opportunities and how literacy impacts our students. Pam shares how she implements multiple reading opportunities during the […]
The post #97 Doors Open to Kids who Independently Read 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. Teaching Reading and Writing is a daunting task. Teachers need not just teach students to read or write, but they need to ensure that each […]
The post #96 Breaking Down State Scores and More 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. Jacob and Pam love answering questions from their patrons! In this episode, they answer two separate questions: How do you implement technology into the writing […]
The post #95 Tech, Cross-curricular, and Workshop Questions Answered! 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. During this episode, Jacob and Pam answer the question: How do teachers decide to pull in outside resources into their reading and writing workshops? Jacob […]
The post #94 Thinking Twice Before Using Outside Resources 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 Pam and Jacob are joining to talk about—what they say is often overlooked in conversations around education—advocating for kids and yourself. Sometimes, you have […]
The post #93 Advocating for Kids and Yourself 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. Jacob explains how an era is over and how his last day of school went saying goodbye to his students that helped him write his […]
The post #92 Learning from Success 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, Jacob and Pam answer a listener’s questions: How do you go about choosing what writing goes on the wall? Jacob is outstanding […]
The post #91 The Writing on the Wall and Looping 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, Jacob and Pam answer a patron’s question: How do you say a proper goodbye? Jacob will be saying goodbye to the students […]
The post #90 Saying Goodbye 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 throws off Jacob with an answer to a question he was NOT expecting. This gives way to a lengthy discussion about […]
The post #89 What Makes a Book Literature? 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, Jacob and Pam realize this is a time for reflecting about the year. It has been a great year! Pam discusses how […]
The post #88 A Time for Reflection 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. Jacob and Pam share a lesson that Pam completed in her Reading and Writing workshop using both the Craft and the Draft books. They discuss […]
The post #87 Lesson Walkthrough with Pam Ochoa 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. NTCE published their position statement regarding multimodal literacy and its place in the ELAR curriculum. Jacob and Pam discuss the article and their thoughts about […]
The post #86 Discussing the Latest NCTE Position Statement Part 2 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. NCTE recently released a position statement on media in English Language Arts. For the unfamiliar, they often release statements like these. Essentially, detailing their beliefs […]
The post #85 Discussing the Latest NCTE Position Statement 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 order for students to infer and understand deeply what they are reading, they need background knowledge, such as vocabulary, literature, current events and experiences. […]
The post #84 How to Build Background Knowledge 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 episode begins by answering a patron’s question regarding teaching informational texts and the writing workshop. Pam shares how she incorporates choice, writing, reading and […]
The post #83 Authentic Publishing Goals 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 end of the year is over the horizon as we return from spring break. High Stakes testing season is upon us. Deadlines create stressors […]
The post #82 Balancing Demands of Teaching with 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. Teachers honor their students when they take time to celebrate their efforts and learning. In this episode, Jacob and Pam focus on how they encourage […]
The post #81 Celebrating Students 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, Jacob and Pam discuss what happens when the product outweighs the content. Much too often teachers assign projects or products that hijack […]
The post #80 When the Product Hijacks the Lesson 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 shares how her students respond to their self-selected reading. She offers several ideas to help students to write about their reading. […]
The post #79 Questions and Writefully Empowered is HERE! 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. Jacob and Pam discuss what happens when students write deeply about personal issues. When the workshop teacher creates an atmosphere of freedom, students will write […]
The post #78 When Students Write About Trauma 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. Workshop teachers promise freedom within their classroom. The question remains, how can the teacher maintain high standards? Jacob and Pam discuss how offering freedom must […]
The post #77 Cultivate a Culture of Freedom in 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. You asked; we answered! Our Patreon is live! Teachers from all over have been sending in requests for the Craft & Draft set-up video as […]
The post #76 MORE Craft & Draft is Here! 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. While we love teaching, it seems like many do not—at least currently. Teachers, leaders, and administrators are leaving education in droves. Many are opting for […]
The post #75 Why Are Educators Quitting? 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. “It’s Writing Time!” is often followed by “I don’t know what to write.” Teachers find this part of the writing workshop daunting. Students are staring […]
The post #74 Before the Writing Begins 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. Jacob and Pam share how disrupted plans impact their week. When Covid spikes, the district closes school for a few days to help everyone get […]
The post #73 Disrupted Plans…Thanks, Covid 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. Jacob and Pam discuss how they use direct and indirect instruction in their workshops. But before they begin, Jacob shares how each interview from the […]
The post #72 Balancing Direct Instruction with Facilitation 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. Jacob and Pam shine a spotlight on a question regarding a genre study and another regarding how to find text and structure mini-lessons. Ultimately, the […]
The post #71 Strategy or Craft? Listener Question Answered! 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 Pam and Jacob are reflecting on their time with the Craft & Draft journals in their classrooms. What went well and what went wrong […]
The post #70 How is Craft & Draft Going for Us This Year? 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. As we are in the middle of our break, we wanted to reflect on student (and teacher) apathy. What causes it? How do you get […]
The post #69 The Causes and Cures to Apathy 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. Motivation has maintained a primary topic in education for years. Motivating students takes practice and a deep understanding of their students interests, understanding and skills. […]
The post #68 Motivation—A Secret Sauce 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. Jacob and Pam are back in the classroom after enjoying a week of vacation. They each share how their week has gone. The students find […]
The post #67 Tutorials, Remediation, and Other Trinkets 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. Censorship impacts all parts of our society. Because it is being heavily mentioned and litigated presently, teachers find it difficult to know what books to […]
The post #66 We Discuss Book Bans and Censorship 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 answering a listener question all about class novels within the Craft & Draft model! Do they work? What are ways to manage […]
The post #65 Class Novels within the Craft & Draft Model 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. Thanksgiving Break is next week, so Jacob and Pam have decided to share why they are thankful. Pam shares how much she enjoys teaching at […]
The post #64 Thankful 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. “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 […]
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, […]
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. […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The post #54 Expanding Workshop BEYOND the Classroom 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. After 8 days in the new school year, Pam and Jacob are experiencing what they experience most years—resistor students. These students often avoid reading […]
The post #53 Resistors 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. The first week of the 2021-2022 school year is behind us! Jacob and Pam reflect on their first week of school. Now they teach […]
The post #52 Our First 3 Days 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. Coming off of two episodes about Craft & Draft nuts and bolts, we wanted to take a more philosophical approach this week. As our […]
The post #51 Discussing the Art and Science of Teaching 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. We have been thrilled this week with all of the feedback we received about our tutorial on the Craft & Draft journals! So many […]
The post #50 C&D Tutorial Questions Answered 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. Several of the Craft and Draft listeners have requested more information regarding how to set-up the Craft and Draft Notebook System In this episode […]
The post #49 How to do Craft & Draft – Tutorial 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. Structure provides the foundation which enables students to participate rigorously as well as enjoy learning. Designing lessons for such engagement requires the teacher to […]
The post #48 Are There Non-Negotiables of Reading and Writing Workshop? 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. How does freedom to learn in the classroom impact rigor? Jacob and Pam think about this question and begin their discussion by defining rigor. […]
The post #47 Is Freedom LESS Rigorous? 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. Summer is a time to wait and see what will change. Teachers leave for new adventures, new teachers need to be hired, but leadership […]
The post #46 Waiting for Change 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. Today, we are discussing one of the HOT BUTTON issues of English teaching—grammar, and how it should be taught. In this episode, Pam states […]
The post #45 Should You Teach Grammar That Way? 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. In the spirit of summer, we discuss taking breaks. Pam is about to go on a small vacation after working a three week training, […]
The post #44 Why is it Hard for Teachers to Take Breaks? 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. Today, Pam and Jacob are tackling another listener question all about GRADES—not a contentious topic at all… Together, Pam and Jacob address the following […]
The post #43 Should Students Fail? Listener Question Answered! 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. “Jacob, are you doing any summer PD?’ Jacob and Pam discuss summer PD and share what they are doing professional development this summer. In […]
The post #42 That Summer PD Vibe 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. Building equity among readers requires that teachers must introduce students to texts that reflect the diversity in the classroom. “Literature transforms human experience and […]
The post #41 Diverse Books for a Diverse Classroom (BOY pt.2) 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 It’s now time to think about next year. A huge question a — How should I set up my workshop? Pam explains the principles […]
The post #40 Listener Question — How to Begin Next Year (pt.1) 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. Differentiation is expected in the classroom, but often teachers, especially those new to teaching, are told to differentiate without the guidance needed to bring […]
The post #39 Differentiation in Workshop 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. Another year has flown by, but this was no ordinary year! This year Jacob will be saying goodbye to students he has taught during […]
The post #38 An Ending to Remember 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. In this episode Jacob and Pam share how they have used quick writes in their classes. They utilize Linda Rief’s The Quickwrite Handbook: 100 […]
The post #37 The Quickwrite Handbook and Beyond 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. Jacob and Pam talk about how they use poetry in their workshops. They both discuss how poetry is often undervalued; however, poetry is gold […]
The post #36 We Love Teaching Poetry 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. One constant is true—CHANGE! In the reading and writing workshop, the change we desire is for our students to transform their thinking through reading […]
The post #35 Change is Coming to Craft & Draft 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. In this episode, Jacob shares how he is still confident and going strong at the end of the school year. He explains that he […]
The post #34 Bridging Reading and Writing in Workshop 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. Pam reveals that when she was a young high school teacher working in teams was rare. From her experience teachers were competitive and often […]
The post #33 What Makes a Great Team? 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. Pam and Jacob LOVE professional development—it’s kind of an addiction. They love reading it, going to conferences, and just about everything in between. But […]
The post #32 What Should Professional Development Look Like? 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. How do we keep our writers nourished? In this episode, Jacob and Pam will be talking about their students who turn and truly see […]
The post #31 The Writer’s Diet 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. Spring brings blossoms, singing birds, little bunnies, and tests. The testing season places extra stress on students and teachers. Trying to figure out how […]
The post #30 High Stakes Tests vs Teaching 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. When teachers open up their lessons by offering choices to their students the feedback loop is altered and their feedback opportunities increase. Students grow […]
The post #29 The Feedback Loop 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. In this episode, Jacob shares that he is teaching with a whole novel! He invites us into his classroom. He shares how he made […]
The post #28 A Novel Approach 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss grammar! Yes, that is right, grammar! They share how they address grammar instruction in their writing workshop. […]
The post #27 Grammar — Meaning — Music 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. Students’ interests inspire Jacob’s reading instruction. Pam finds that connections encourage students to read more. However they approach reading in their workshops, they strive […]
The post #26 A Little Reading Nudge 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam answer a listener’s question about getting students to branch out from genres they prefer to write in. […]
The post #25 Nuts & Bolts of Choice in Writing (Listener Question) 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 year has moved at a rapid pace. School rounds the last few curves in the road before it reaches the last stretch of […]
The post #24 The Waxing and Waning of Workshop 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. We stand on the shoulders of the giants who have gone before us! Laura Robb is one of those giants in education. She has […]
The post #23 Laura Robb: Entering the Writing Life 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss what we are seeing as our students are experiencing the challenges of school during this most uncertain […]
The post #22 Whole Group Novel or Literature Circles? appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome to the Craft & Draft podcast with Jacob Chastain and Pam Ochoa! We love talking about our craft! We believe that the Reading and Writing Workshop grows our students as thinkers, readers, and writers. We face the daily challenges of the classroom and our discussions help us, so we want to share them with […]
The post #21 Publishing, Assessing, and Measuring Growth appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome back to Craft and Draft podcast with Jacob Chastain and Pam Ochoa. Last week they shared how they used the CRAFTBOOK. As promised, this week they sit down and discuss the details of the DRAFTBOOK. The DRAFTBOOK empowers our students to become writers. We share how the students utilize it during their writing process. […]
The post #20 The Draftbook appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome back everyone, to the Craft & Draft Podcast! After a nice full list of episodes detailing Pam and Jacob’s philosophy, background, and focus in their classrooms, they figured it was about time to sit down and give some solid details on what their Craftbooks and Draftbooks are. Today we are talking CRAFTBOOKS, and next […]
The post #19 The Craftbook 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam received a question about Writing and Reading Workshop. This teacher just like so many other teachers is required […]
The post #18 More Programs, More Problems (Listener Q&A) 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam share books from Donald Graves to the present. We share books that you may want to add to […]
The post #17 Top PD Books to Buy With Those Gift Cards appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Craft & Draft podcast where we talk reading — writing workshop every single FRIDAY of the week! In this episode, we take on the task of unsticking the stuck writer. We know it happens. You know it happens. Writers get stuck. They have choice and freedom to tackle […]
The post #16 Unstick the Stuck Writer 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. Jacob and Pam begin with a conversation about the week. Pam shares how she uses the power of words to excite her students about […]
The post #15 Cultivating Creativity 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss when you know your reading workshop is in the zone. Pam touches on when teachers model reading […]
The post #14 Culture of the Reading Workshop 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. In this episode, Jacob and Pam discuss the impact of the writing workshop on the culture of the classroom as well as the culture […]
The post #13 Culture of the Writing Workshop appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Craft & Draft! Last week, Pam and Jacob discussed how to spice up a stale classroom workshop. They pointed out that all workshops stall at times, and that’s ok. They also discussed how trusting the process, trying new model texts, and changing how students publish could lead to exciting […]
The post #12 The Art of Letting Go appeared first on Craft & Draft.
**A quick note: Jacob had audio issues on this one…Please forgive us for the hum in the episode! It will be fixed! 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. In this […]
The post #11 When Workshop Needs Some Spice 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. In this episode, we think about how we approach conferencing and how to ensure that we get great results from them. We share how […]
The post #10 The Anatomy of a Great Reading and Writing Conference appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome back to Craft & Draft! Today Pam and Jacob are coming together to discuss the heart of their reading and writing workshop—the conference! Both Pam and Jacob treat their conferences as sacred ground these days. It drives their instruction, in the moment teaching, and builds a community of learners who respect each other and […]
The post #9 Conferring is the Heart of Our Workshop 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. We are continuing to check over our lesson plans to see what is ahead. We see that in our curriculum our students will need […]
The post #8 Planning to Teach Critique to 7th Graders 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. Creating lessons is what teachers do, so in this episode planning the next lesson is what we are doing! In the curriculum, Pam is […]
The post #7 Lesson Planning to Teach Informational Text 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, oral storytelling, and real world teaching. In this episode, we hold nothing back in our DEEP dive into everything English—from the origin of oral stories to how the […]
The post #6 Oral Storytelling and the Brain appeared first on Craft & Draft.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… and everything in between! 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. In this episode, we look back to our […]
The post #5 The Best of Times, The Worst of 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. In this episode, we explore how to keep our students the most important part of our instruction. As we complete our first six weeks, […]
The post #4 The Scarlet Ibis appeared first on Craft & Draft.
We’re Back in The Classroom! 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. In this episode, we express how excited we are to be back in the classroom! We discuss how we […]
The post #3 Paper is Still King 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. In this episode, we discuss our plans for beginning the new year, and how our experience is working out so far. We talk through […]
The post #2 Possibilities and Surprises with Online Teaching! appeared first on Craft & Draft.
Welcome everyone to the first episode of the Craft & Draft podcast! We couldn’t be more excited to be here, talking with you about workshop, literacy, writing, reading, and real world teaching. It’s what we love, and if you’re reading this, we assume you love it too! In this episode, we dive into our beliefs […]
The post #1 Our Beliefs About Literacy appeared first on Craft & Draft.