Description

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Whatever subject you teach, you can encourage students’ sense of self-worth.

“I’m a bad writer” is a disclaimer every secondary teacher has heard many times. Overcoming that negative self-image, Plotinsky argues, is key to helping students build a positive academic identity—and because of the vulnerability associated with sharing what we write, the benefits of interrupting this particular form of deficit thinking extend far beyond English class.

Drawing on her years of experience as an English teacher and literacy specialist, Miriam Plotinsky uses writing instruction as a powerful vehicle to examine how teachers can help students build a sense of themselves as legitimate, valuable contributors to the world around them. The chapters move fluidly through ways to build capacity such as celebrating student voice, separating grading from class participation, giving feedback that inspires trust, and avoiding the labeling of students. Along the way, teachers in other content areas contribute insights into how the identity-building strategies in the book can be applied to their own disciplines.  

About the Author

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Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she has taught and led for more than twenty years. Also a National Board Certified Teacher and certified administrator, she lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Praise For…

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Miriam Plotinsky skillfully weaves together theory and practice in Writing Their Future Selves. Through stories and research, Plotinsky makes a compelling case for teachers to focus on academic identity, and the book is bursting with strategies and templates so you can get started immediately. Anyone who writes with students (which is all of us teachers!) should pick up this book to enliven their classrooms and spark their students’ creativity and skills.

— Alex Shevrin Venet, author of Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education

What I love most about Writing Their Future Selves is how Miriam Plotinsky weaves relationships and care into all the strategies she shares. These strategies teach students how to express themselves in authentic and meaningful ways. A must-read!

— Jon Bergmann, teacher, author, and Flipped Learning pioneer

Writing Their Future Selves is a treasure trove of insight. Grounded in Plotinsky’s years of experience as a teacher and instructional specialist, this book achieves an engaging balance of anecdotes, research, and use-tomorrow strategies that make it valuable to any teacher who works with writers. New teachers will enjoy the mentorship of a master educator and veteran teachers will feel reenergized to transcend myths and stereotypes, and skillfully assist each writer before them.

— Brett Vogelsinger, English teacher and author of Poetry Pauses: Teaching With Poems to Elevate Student Writing in All Genres

Years of remote and hybrid instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic left their mark of separation upon our students. However, in typical fashion, Miriam Plotinsky has authored Writing Their Future Selves: Instructional Strategies to Affirm Student Identity to build a bridge that our students can navigate with us teachers, and to strengthen our collective sense of self.


— Joseph S. Pizzo, middle school English teacher and adjunct professor, writing department, Centenary University

In the uncertainty of the post-pandemic era, we as educators have had to rediscover and reinvent ourselves; thus, it should not be surprising that we must also help students identify and cultivate the traits they desire within themselves. Writing Their Future Selves shares how teacher temperament and approach can disrupt deficit thinking, affirm identity, and encourage something that students and staff alike must always seek to do: develop self-efficacy.

— Daryl C. Howard, PhD, equity instructional specialist

Whether you are a novice or veteran teacher, Writing Their Future Selves offers insights, tools, stories, and questions to bolster student academic identity and confidence. Dive into writing activities that are at home in English Language Arts classes and beyond to connect students with each other, adults, school, and academic content. I appreciate Miriam Plotinsky’s conversational style as she supports and guides readers through reflection and instructional moves.

— Nicholas A. Emmanuele, English teacher, Millcreek Township School District