My AP Lang students are currently working on their “On” essays—writing on anything they choose. There’s a long tradition of “On” essays in the world… and by an “On” essay, I mean any essay whose title starts with the word “On…” (although, really, isn’t anything… Read More
All posts by “Tricia Ebarvia”
Conferring as Prewriting
I was reminded the other day of the work of Don Murray (who, with Don Graves, I affectionately refer to as “the Dons” in my head). “Prewriting usually takes about 85% of the writer’s time,” Murray wrote in his wonderful essay, “Teaching Writing as a… Read More
Writing in the Wild: Beyond the 5-Paragraph Essay
“What do you think about when you hear the word essay?” A moment of silence. Some confused looks. Others, blank stares. A few, smirks. IT’S LATE AFTERNOON, September, last period. My AP Lang class and I are in the midst of finishing up our discussion of Joan… Read More
Never a day without a line
“Never a day without a line,” Brenda repeated. In the summer of 2011, I had the pleasure of participating in the PA Writing and Literature Project Summer Invitational Writing Institute. Although I’d been teaching for several years by then, my experience with the writing project… Read More
Reimagining Learning Spaces: The Third Teacher
A few years ago, I started to rethink my classroom space. I wondered, What does this room say about me as a teacher, or my students as learners? Is the space working in the best ways in can? Although I don’t think I realized it… Read More
A Place to Belong
Recently, I was honored to be among the contributors to Education Week’s Classroom Q & A with Larry Ferlazzo. This week’s question was, “What’s the best way to start the school year?” Below was my response. Be sure to follow the link at the end… Read More
Zen Teaching
NOTE: This post was originally published on MovingWriters.org. Follow the link at the end to continue reading. Now that it’s officially August, I’m starting to feel what I suspect many teachers feel this time of year—the all too familiar mix of anxiety and anticipation. While I… Read More
Multigenre and Visual Tools for Composition
Click HERE to see the presentation, given at the West Chester University PA Writing & Literature Project Summer Institute, July 2016.
What do we hope for our student readers?
I‘ve been thinking and writing a lot lately about how our beliefs about students, learning, and teaching influence our practices. Part of this reflection has stemmed from my own instructional practice and how it has shifted—in subtle but also dramatic ways. How, for example, the nagging… Read More
The Pressure to Do Versus the Possibilities of Doing
Whenever I blog, especially for PAWLP, I try to offer fellow teachers some practical strategies to use in the classroom. After all, I know how I much I appreciate picking up ideas that I can try with my own students right away, sometimes even the very next day.… Read More
Tricia Ebarvia 
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