Leading with Intention

By: Tony Tendero, Cynthia Clingman
Date: April 2008

Summary: In this introductory chapter to Writing Intention: Prompting Professional Learning through Student Work, the authors point out that the book's contributors "intentionally center their teaching on the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing." They provide suggestions for how these materials may be discussed.

Excerpt from Chapter

Each writer is sharing part of a conversation that began with a question about the teaching of writing. This book will give you and your colleagues a chance to participate in this conversation by:

1. Reading teacher stories about best practices in the teaching of writing.
2. Examining student work that emerged from the classroom.
3. Understanding how this work took place in a range of district literacy initiatives including 6+1 Traits, Collins Writing Program, Four Blocks, Lucy Calkins, Barry Lane and many others.
4. Exploring resources suggested by the teacher-writer.
5. Discussing with colleagues your reactions, questions and potential applications to your schools.
6. Developing your own individual, department, school/district wide inquiries into the teaching of writing.

Copyright © 2008. Reprinted by permission of Michigan Reading Association.
Tendero, Tony, and Cynthia Clingman. 2007. "Leading with Intention." In Writing Intention: Prompting Professional Learning through Student Work, edited by Cynthia Clingman and Antonio Tendero, 1–4. Grand Rapids, MI: Michigan Reading Association.

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Related Resource Topics

• Teaching Writing - Writing and Literature