High School English Teacher Vlog: How to Teach Writing, FREE Brainstorming Organizers

[@Bkg2014]

I can't thank you enough for creating/sharing this. As a first year middle school ELAR teacher, I am struggling the most with teaching writing. This will be so beneficial for me!

[@3monsters014]

I appreciate this, I am an adult in college. My writing skills have seriously weakened. In many years, I have been out of high school.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Hope this is helpful!

[@jacobcornell685]

Thank you, Laura. You are a blessing.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

I do what I can. 😅 Thanks for watching, Jacob.

[@aviewer390]

Discovered your channel yesterday. Taught Spanish for 19 years, now teaching ELA. You are a lifesaver!

[@TheChickwithguns]

Yes, more videos. I’m not a new teacher…been teaching for almost twenty years, but I taught Latin, not English, and I homeschooled for several years (the wee ones…teaching how to hold a pencil, add, code words, count syllables…etc.). Now, I’m headed into high school English next year, and I am, as I was in my first year of teaching Latin, begging, borrowing and stealing. I am a bit of an OCD planner, so I love having tools and tricks and ideas stuffed into my notebooks and brain for how to do the things I know I need to do. Core teachers have a lot to shoulder because of all the standardized tests, so with some coffee and a good attitude, I’m hoping to make ELAR fun and immensely useful for my students. Thanks for a fun video, fellow coffee addict.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Welcome to my world, Nerdy Mama! You know I have a blog, right? laurarandazzo.com/

[@GothicElf68]

This is fantastic. I am not a teacher. However, I do tutor English at the college level for a community college. Many of the students I tutor are in remedial classes that did not get all of these great tools in their high school English classes. So, helping them to figure out how to brainstorm and organize ideas is something that comes up frequently during tutoring sessions. I was familiar with the bubble technique before watching this video and outlining is something I use as a follow up step in the writing process, but the other techniques are new to me. I love how all of these methods contain a visual element, but are organized very differently. I picked up on your comment as to why you love the columns approach. It brought to my mind how different personality types and learning styles will find different systems of organization to be more appealing. I am greatly looking forward to utilizing the spider and column methods with my tutees.

[@traeisha]

I love this! Thanks for this valuable training. I would love to see more writing videos like this!

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Gonzalez Home Videos You got it, Gonzalez! I'm definitely going to spend some time this week figuring out how to make that happen. :)

[@TheSofi8585]

Thanks so much, I was looking for silver and I found gold, pure gold! Hugs from Ecuador.

[@breeeloovee]

I would LOVE more writing videos!!

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Gotcha, Breeanna! I'm thinking through how to explain my approach to theme and literary analysis right now. Stay tuned...I'll make more. :)

[@kimburdumy5922]

Laura-If it wasn't for you and ALL your terrific ideas I would be completely lost. Now that you are not teaching full time can you please create some writing lessons for middle schoolers? They cannot write and starting in high school is too late. I am sure I am not the only teacher who needs this help. Thank you so much for all your do to make our teaching more valuable. Kim

[@laurarandazzo1158]

I hear you, Kim. I actually have two notebooks filled with curriculum ideas, but I have to first convert all of my PDF-based materials to work with online learning. I just finished a massive conversion of every Prezi slide deck to work on Google Slides (whew!) and it seems my KZbin comment threads are heating up now that I'm back here, too. I promise, I know this is a need. I'll get there. Not sure when, but I'll get there.

[@piercelogan674]

Thanks for the insight! Teachers helping teachers.

[@theresasimoneaux6087]

Please do more like this in which you demonstrate EXACTLY how you use these tools. VERY helpful.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Glad this was helpful, Theresa! I'll definitely spend some time figuring out to turn more of my writing lessons into video-worthy chunks. Appreciate the encouragement! :)

[@lauragallardo6629]

I am writing a college paper on how is college writing different than high school writing. PROBLEM never went to high. Thank you for this video it has helped me alot

[@laurarandazzo1158]

So glad you found me! (The other) Laura :)

[@kattate9169]

Awesome visualizations...As an English teacher, I have just one improvement area....When selecting. A class text...please be careful to always choose books that inspire all races and cultures to thrive. For example, Ask yourself, if discussing "Lynching threats" is really appropriate....

[@teresamanyosa]

You are so awesome!! Thank you very much. You are really inspiring and your tips are super helpful.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Teresa Mañosa LOVE knowing this was helpful, Teresa! Thanks for watching, :)

[@laurarandazzo1158]

LOVE knowing this was helpful, Teresa! Thanks for watching. :)

[@ashleyknegendorf6632]

Our schoolwide focus this year is writing improvement, so any writing videos would be greatly appreciated. 😀

[@goodgrandma2758]

You are awesome. I’ve taught 6th trait, and used other writing programs with 5th and 6th grade Special Education. I was a Class within a Class team Teacher. Now I’ve moved to the College working with Students who need to take the GED. My Granddaughter started varsity cross country at 15 too. Now she’s a Junior. She did the same for Wrestling, and Fastpitch softball. 🥎 It was so awesome for her . Thank you for your videos. 👍👍👍

[@kimburdumy5922]

Thank you. I know you are very busy. Thanks for replying. I don't know if you ever considered holding an online workshop for some of your ideas but I believe there a lot of teachers who would find that valuable.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Thanks, Kim! No online workshops, but I'm here on KZbin all the time for free. Definitely let me know if there's a topic you want me to dig more deeply into. I have more time now to make that happen. :)

[@goodgrandma2758]

Would it be an interesting thing to do to give kids the graphic organizer filled out, and have the use the information to write ?

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Certainly, modeling with a completed one and/or doing the first one together as a whole class experience will prime the pump.

[@hajarnadir7328]

I really loved this video. You are so resourceful and i appreciate sharing some of you valuable knowledge with us. Thanks a lot. if possible, I would like to know when and how can I make students start the process of writing by themseleves using the convinient cohesives (drafting) after the brainstorming phase? Thanks in advence!

[@The11sky]

This was so useful! Thank you very very much!

[@sarahsykes7973]

Thanks for your videos. Could you make a video on journaling?

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Maybe. Just added this to my idea file. 👍

[@kimmorrison5147]

Thank you for this video. I was so excited to see your name. I have used many of your excellent materials from TeachersPayTeachers for several years now. They are so well done and easy to use, and my students have loved and learned from each one I have presented.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Kim Morrison Thanks so much for this kind feedback, Kim! Glad you’re here with me on the channel. :) Happy summer!

[@mollyrogers1298]

Hi! I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS! This is my first year teaching and you are changing my teaching writing strategies DRASTICALLY--and for the better! Would you mind making a video on teaching how to craft a thesis? My students struggle with developing a strong thesis from a prompt (which may reveal a deeper problem with my prompts!)

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Thanks, Molly, for watching and commenting. Oh, how I wish KZbin existed when I was a new teacher. I just added your thesis video suggestion to my idea notebook. Have you seen the one I made on theme writing? You might like it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqjFqJegadJ0n7c (Sorry it's taken me so long to respond, but it's finally summer and I finally have time to catch up with all of these KZbin comments.) Enjoy your summer vacation! :)

[@CentigradeMind]

Thanks so much.

[@ashleykayejournals8284]

I teach a 7th and 8th grade creative writing elective elective. The students just CAN'T get their conventions coherent and often REFUSE to edit/revise. How can I help them see it as a necessary and helpful step?

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Since they've chosen the elective, Ashley, I'm guessing they like to write but haven't yet seen the value of editing, right? You might think about giving them an authentic audience, as in an online school magazine or submitting to writing contests. Once they see that someone besides you will be reading their work, I'll bet they get much more focused on the editing round to avoid looking foolish. Also, I give my kids step-by-step peer- and self-editing exercises since they don't necessarily know how to do this on their own. Finally, you might consider using a once-a-week grammar bellringer to help sharpen their skills without overwhelming them. I talked more about this a couple of weeks ago here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIqYaYKambxgipY Hope this helps! :)

[@ashleykayejournals8284]

Laura Randazzo Thank you! I will try these suggestions.

[@timilynnmeyer6032]

I need help becoming a writing teacher! I'm failing miserably

[@laurarandazzo1158]

I hear you, Timilynn. Writing itself is hard. Teaching others how to write well is really, really hard. My experience has taught me that models of the end-product are critical for our kids. Then, break down the process step-by-step and give kids lots of ungraded feedback. There is no quick fix or magic bullet. It's about rolling up sleeves and doing the work. Need help with materials? Maybe start here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZa6qJ-cr8ySfKM You are not alone! :)

[@amychow5650]

Please give more websites and ideas of teaching of writing.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Amy Chow I’ll do my best, Amy! :)

[@amychow5650]

Laura Randazzo Thank you so much😍

[@tiborkovacs5317]

A Good Basic Tool to help -Observe StudyTeach/Hear Read Write Speak learn Inwardly Digest/Truth/Knowledge Understanding Wisdom/Keywords.Any Person Place Thing Quality Idea/Subject State Action Object/Statement Question Desire is = Who What Where When Which Why How.

[@jeonaltheajungkookie2502]

my classmate are teasing me that my writings are ugly

[@laurarandazzo1158]

Well, it's clear that people who tease other people are the ugliest of all.

[@christinab.2864]

Seriously it's your student's opinion and nothing more.

[@laurarandazzo1158]

And once we help them learn to add evidence to support those opinions, our kids become unstoppable! Thanks for watching, Christina. :)

[@christinab.2864]

@@laurarandazzo1158 4 year update: I learned a lot about this writing business. I know this teacher that I never did get the privilege to have but I heard rumors about what she expects: something tells me she wanted to be author but had to be a teacher instead. One, she’s grading of the usage of the paper wide rule it’s twinty-six lines and college rule it’s thirty-two. Anything Less than at that middle hole she thinks your lying. Personally, I can’t say that I blame her. Two, a girl loves a good story line. Three, I have always been in the special education classroom and the structure is very different where the assignments is just that there not case files; the character are that there not criminals; I’m student not a lawyer who want to learn but also teach not having to build a case and argue with the judge which is the teacher; I want a teacher to do what they love to do best-teach. So you see she wants you to settle an argument before it even begins. I wouldn’t want to bring to the teacher evidences of what exactly? I would also like a teacher to teach a student other ways to settle an argument besides the old, “because I said so.” That would also help my anxiety level a lot not having to explain the things that I truly shouldn’t. Three, she actually want you to use the whole, “because I said so” but to me it seems a bit rude. Also, not add in words that even make my head hurt: what, where, when, why, and how; like a child. But to use words: I want you to, I need you to, you’re going to, you have to, this is how it’s going to be; you know don’t beat around the bush and be mister nice guy; that’s more grownup speech. Four, another thing that I remember is she values integrity and honesty in the writing lessons. We may just get along famously after all I don’t have a filter. I wonder too if she thinks there’s more to the student than the assignment. Five, she not only give the students an assignment of course but the characters an assignment even if she knows that she won’t be getting it from the characters. I may surprise her in getting the wish especially if the character decides to call the teacher some vile name or action in the literature; at that point I make the character do as what was asked from the teacher. So your getting two opportunities for an A not just one. Five, has a final she asks you to play the game clue and write report about what happened. If I get the privilege to be in her class but is told that I may just have go back to the special education classroom I wanted to ended it with something for the teacher to remember me by. I learned all this from memories and a game app called grading app that’s the pink and purple icons but I wonder now whether not I’m a ‘mean’ enough writer and an adult-adulthood is truly not easy. Surely, someone in the comments does at least one of the thing mentioned before now.