Tara Banton

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Tara Banton

Tara BantonTara BantonTara Banton
  • Home
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  • Creative Works

Finite Teaching, Infinite Learning

Finite Teaching, Infinite LearningFinite Teaching, Infinite LearningFinite Teaching, Infinite Learning

Finite Teaching, Infinite Learning

Finite Teaching, Infinite LearningFinite Teaching, Infinite LearningFinite Teaching, Infinite Learning

Tara Banton, Instructional Coach, Author, & Writing Tutor

As an experienced instructional coach, teacher trainer, learning designer, writing tutor, and writer, I am motivated to help people to learn and grow. I built this site as a way to share teaching & learning resources that I have created that have been tried and tested and that work.


Whether you're a seasoned educator looking for innovative teaching strategies, a budding writer seeking guidance, or someone passionate about continuous learning, you've come to the right place.


Navigate through a curated collection of articles, tips, and tools crafted to enhance your teaching prowess, ignite your creativity, and foster a love for lifelong learning. From instructional design gems to writing tips that spark inspiration, this space is designed to empower and elevate your educational journey.


If you find that you would like further support, whether tutoring, coaching advice, or larger trainings, book a session, reach out: 


finitewritingcoach@gmail.com

Where Curiosity Meets Courage

Guiding Principles

The world has changed, ergo I must change.

In fact, the world has changed so much in recent decades that it sometimes feels like educators, and the education system, have been left in the dust. Collectively, we need to play catch-up, and fast, if we are to give today's learners the skills and experience that they will need in their futures.


How do we catch up? We offer learning experiences that push learners, no matter their age, into moments of uncomfortable struggle, stretching them so that they are truly learning.


While this site offers a range of resources and materials, hopefully its overarching impact will be to help educators and learners. 


For teachers, my hope is that you perhaps begin to ask yourselves some questions about what you are doing in your classroom, and begin to transform your classroom into a learning community powered by clear intention and compassion for the needs of your learners. 


For students, my hope is that you remain curious and open to understanding how learning is designed, choosing to be metacognitively engaged in learning by transferring and applying some of the practices suggested here for teachers to your own learning.

Stagnation is not an option here.

Shaking it up, re-thinking everything we do, so that our actions are deliberate and intentional, is the goal here.


Stagnation may range in feeling - from a vague listlessness to experiencing an overwhelming sense of, "Something is just not right." Change and growth feel great but not before suffering the pangs of destabilization and stepping through any fear. It's uncomfortable . . . until we get used to it and get a taste of its reward: Recognition of having "made it" through struggle to new growth brings with it empowerment, gratitude, and fruits to share.


Enjoy the ride, and don't be afraid to ask for directions.

I know . . . I get it. I, too, don't know what I don't know. That's one of the many reasons I am here. I want to share what has challenged me as well as what I have observed and learned in my practice as a teacher and an instructional coach. Putting my ideas out into the digital world is new for me, and so I will be learning as I go. Please, be patient with me :-).

Let's get on down the road.

But first, there are four conditions for this journey:


  • Enjoy what's happening now - joy in the work (it is a choice).
  • Be adventurous and  take risks - consider it an investment in innovation.
  • Be accepting of challenge, and try not to make yourself miserable by fighting the feelings that inevitably comes with being faced by challenged - fear.
  • Be open to new learning. We don't know what we don't know, and new ideas lead to cognitive dissonance - be gentle with yourself, and recognize and own your cognitive dissonance by being vulnerable about it (when we are not aware of it, and we give it no channel for expression, it will often turn on others as a form of blame and cause external dissonance).


Teachers, ask yourselves, "What is ONE thing in my classroom that I have found frustrating or deflating? What would I like to change?" Now, commit to changing it. Whether you find insights and resources on this site or another, know that making a commitment to change something is a brave act. Have courage, learn, experiment, and joy in teaching (again, if you've lost it).


Students, ask yourselves, "What kind of a thinker do I want to be?" Now, choose it - curious, open, intentional, and in joy learning.

Go to teaching writing

Now Available

Finite Writing: Cracking the Code on Learning & Teaching Writing

This book is about how to teach writing as much as it is about how to learn how to write. It offers a writing acronym that works as well as detailed guidance about how to teach writing as a process. 

BUY THE BOOK HERE
go to teaching reading

Deepening Learning: Tools & Resources

Embarking on a journey of new learning inevitably brings forth cognitive dissonance, a natural but often uncomfortable state. The inclination to halt this discomfort is human, yet pushing beyond our comfort zones is the catalyst for profound growth. The essence lies in expanding both our knowledge and self-assurance.


In this transformative process, a learning coach serves as a steady guide. With 24 years immersed in the realm of education, encompassing 14 years as a high school English teacher and a decade as an instructional coach to educators, my wealth of experience is fortified by extensive training.


Over the years, I have developed a plethora of resources and tools that I hope can benefit others who are teaching and learning reading, writing, and authentic production.


Go to Deepening Learning for more about reading, writing, and other authentic learning tools and resources.

My Experiments in Writing

As one compelled to think, seek, and create, I am moved to write, short form, long form, whether prose or non-fiction or poetry. 

Original Work

Short Creative Pieces

Short Creative Pieces

Short Creative Pieces

Creative writings, both short prose and poetry, are experiments in writing that cover the gamut of things that move one to write, from love and living to the evolution of the soul.


READ MY SHORT CREATIVE PIECES HERE



Published Books

Short Creative Pieces

Short Creative Pieces

I have self-published two books. So far, writing books has been an experiment, a frustration, and a joy. In short, I love the process, so I plan to keep writing!


Buy FINITE WRITING


Buy SHADOWSCAPE



Original Analyses

For the Love of Learning, a Blog

For the Love of Learning, a Blog

When I was teaching AP Lit & Comp, I wrote with my students regularly - timed writings as my students wrote them as well as essay models (to show both what to do and not do). I also wrote as a way to discover in a work what was worth teaching, so I have included some of those meanderings as well.


READ ANALYTICAL ESSAYS HERE

For the Love of Learning, a Blog

For the Love of Learning, a Blog

For the Love of Learning, a Blog

Interested in hearing opinions that have been shaped by nearly 25 years in education by one who still believes in the power of authentic learning and meaning-making in shaping self-actualized individuals?


READ MY BLOG HERE

go to Original Work page

Interested in Learning More?

Drop me a line!

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