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I love attending writing conferences. It's exciting to come together with other writers and share our experiences. While in New York, I found myself not only learning and growing as a writer, but also thinking about the writing sites and the students and teachers we work with. One of my favorite parts about my job at MI is the overlap between my writing life and my MI life, so I thought I would bring a little of that overlap back to you.

Have you been watching the 2016 Olympic Games? So far, the United States is leading in total medal count, with 32, and gold medal count, with 11. Go team USA!

But there's more to the Olympics than medal count. There are many lessons to be learned from watching the world's top athletes compete (and dominate) in their sport. Even more specifically, we can take some of these lessons and apply them to writing.

The Literacy and NCTE blog recently shared a guest post by Rahul Malayappan, a high school senior who was also a finalist in the 2016 Atlantic & College Board Writing Prize Contest. Rahul's post gives so much insight into the writing process, including his initial lack of interest, the importance of peer review, his moments of inspiration, and the value of what he learned along the way. By the time his experience came to an end, Rahul's entire concept of the writing process had changed.

You teach the lesson, assign homework, and grade assignments. But how do you know it's all working? How do you know that all of your students are benefiting from the instruction? PEG Writing can help answer these questions.

There are many reasons students may be reluctant to write: some think they cannot write well, leading to frustration and an unwillingness to try. Other students may feel the pressure of getting a good grade, always trying to perfect their assignments. ELL students face the difficult task of building fluency in a language while trying to build their writing skills.