“IDK What to Write!” Inspire and Differentiate for Writing Success

MSAA Professional Development Workshop for Classroom Teachers, Instructional Coaches, and Related Service Providers (SLP/OT)

“IDK What to Write!” Inspire and Differentiate for Writing Success

Many students struggle through their school day because of rigorous writing requirements. Expectations may cause students to say, “I don't know what to write”, or worse, “I hate to write”. Using technology assistance, students can access executive functioning skills and respond more positively to writing assignments. Listed here is an initial sample of what will be presented. All tools will be previewed and info for the free teacher trial will be made available.

Google Docs is the go-to program for real-time student-teacher conferencing. Embedded tools will be addressed, and add-ons such as MindMeister and Word Cloud will be shown. ReadWrite is a program that enables students to use a wide array of tools to generate text and check their work. Flippity is a successful way for students to generate and recall information from what they've read. They are also challenged to create their own questions for others, further testing their understanding of the topic. Its templates for the Jeopardy game and a Mad Lib story are easy to fill in and customize which results in a great product for little time and no money. MindMup is a free mind mapping site where students can brainstorm and plan their writing. It's proved useful for activities such as categorizing, predicting possible outcomes, comparing character traits, and mapping varied responses by “drilling down” using higher-level language skills to state why someone said or did something in a video or a reading. Read Works offers reading material for varying grade and Lexile levels. 

Participants will:

·         Interact with several tools for differentiating and facilitating the writing process through hands-on demonstration

·         Discern ways students of all levels may benefit from presented tools in their own classrooms/schools

*For all tools, exemplars and suggestions for classroom and therapy use will be offered. We will link directly to student products and, for free sites/add-ons, can interact on-the-spot. 

When: Friday, March 7, 2025, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am

Delivery Method: In-Person Workshop

Location: The MSAA Office, 33 Forge Parkway, Franklin, MA

Presenter: Tammi Miller, Dr. Kevin M Hurley Middle School

PD Hours: 3 in Content Area Leadership and Administration

Fees: Member $150 / Non-Member $205

MSAA Contact: Ethel Kawesa, ekawesa@msaa.net 

Tammi Miller | Dr. Kevin M Hurley Middle School

Tammi Miller is in her 30th year as a speech-language pathologist. After serving all ages of adults and children as clinical supervisor at Meeting Street, Providence, RI, she moved to Seekonk Public Schools, MA, working at the middle and high school levels, where she remains today. She is the Speech-Language Pathologist and Special Education Department Curriculum leader at Dr. Kevin M. Hurley Middle School. Her specialty areas include written language and social language learning. Mrs. Miller has presented at the MassCUE conference on a range of topics over the past seven years. She has presented at the international convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) five times. She is a panelist on the MCAS Bias and Sensitivity committee for DESE. She lives with her sweet husband, beloved son, and pesky dog in southeastern MA.