Strategies for implementing explicit writing skills

Eumundi Principal Anthony Swan is such a fan of Writer’s Toolbox that he’s now implemented it in three schools.  And each school has achieved significant lift in writing outcomes.

When Swan arrived at Eumundi, improving student writing outcomes was one of his top three goals for the year.  And he knew Writer’s Toolbox would help him achieve it.  He started by introducing all Eumundi staff to the Writer’s Toolbox approach and the 12 Sentence Styles.  Then, Swan took six staff members to a Writer’s Toolbox 2-Day Teacher Writing Conference led by founder Dr Ian Hunter.  Those six staff became the early adopters; they “built the capacity of all our staff on the skills we use to make writing enjoyable to read.”

 
“One of the best moments,” Swan says, “is when you expose teachers to Writer’s Toolbox and the ease of embedding it—they get that aha moment.  That moment where they say: this just makes sense.” 

We ask Swan what he thinks the point of difference for Writer's Toolbox is.  “It’s those simple, explicit, research-based skills that Writer’s Toolbox delivers,” he says.  “Unless the research actually lifts student writing outcomes, I wouldn’t implement it.  And that gives confidence to my teachers, to teach those skills.”