The Unstoppable Writing Teacher: Real Strategies for the Real Classroom

Veteran teacher and author Colleen Cruz has seen it all and done it all in the writing classroom―and she’s got something to admit:  this is hard work.  Real hard.  In The Unstoppable Writing Teacher she takes on the common concerns, struggles, and roadblocks that we all face in writing instruction and helps us engage in the process of problem solving each one. 

From dealing with writing workshop skeptics to working with students both gifted and challenged, and of course combating that eternal barrier―lack of time―Colleen offers tried-and-true strategies to address and overcome obstacles. 

For the struggles unique to you, she includes a “Name Your Monster” section that helps you identify your own individual roadblocks and even offers sustainable support through her blog, colleencruz.com.  “We can’t solve all the problems we’re faced with in writing instruction,” Colleen promises, “but we can choose how to respond to them.  And our responses will make all the difference.” 

What makes you unstoppable, or what's stopping you?  Connect with Colleen on her blog at www.colleencruz.com/blog.htm or on Twitter, #unstoppablewritingteacher.

M. Colleen Cruz is a fierce advocate for the students and teachers with whom she shares her passion for accessibility, twenty-first century learning, and social justice. 

An educator with over two decades of experience in both general education and inclusive settings, Colleen is also the author of several books for teachers including Risk. Fail. Rise. A Teacher’s Guide to Learning from Mistakes and The Unstoppable Writing Teacher, as well as the author of a young adult novel, Border Crossing, a Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Finalist. Additionally, Colleen co-edits the Not This But That series with Nell Duke - a popular series of books that pairs research and practice.  

Colleen has served as a senior staff developer and later the Director of Innovation at Teachers College Reading & Writing Project, Columbia University. She currently supports organizations, districts and schools who want to bring her unique combination of integrity, humor, real-world practicality and a rare depth and breadth of scholarship to their communities.