Teach Big

Teach Big Teach BIG (The Writing Academy): The ECR Essay Experts. Teach BIG was developed by classroom teacher, Randi Whitney, to meet the needs of her students.

Teach BIG hopes to assist teachers with BIG ideas and lessons in both reading, Tap & Think Reading, and writing, The Writing Academy.The basis of The Writing Academy and Tap and Think Reading is one that is founded on many years of brain research. These concepts are implemented through the use of colors, small chunking, games, and graphic organizers.

08/21/2026

Plot twist: the TEKS were never the problem—I just needed the right support.
The Teach BIG® TEKS Companion is coming soon to help Texas educators understand the standards, plan with confidence, and spend less time searching.

08/20/2026

You asked for clarity. You needed practical support. You deserved more than a list of standards.
Meet the Teach BIG® TEKS Companion—built to help Texas educators understand, plan, and teach every TEKS with confidence.

08/13/2026

"And so what we do is we go through a process. We call it TREES."

This is the framework taught the way Randi teaches it — with a ballroom full of educators in Mission CISD holding one arm in the air.

That arm is your tree trunk. That's the T. That's your thesis, and it has three pieces. And here's the part teachers tell us changes everything: all three pieces go back to the prompt. The prompts we tackle are only how or why — and there are specific sentence structures that answer how and why questions.

Then the rest of the tree: reasons, evidence, explanation, and the significant inference, the blue bird moment.

"When our teachers know that, our kids get to know that. When the kids get to know that, they're empowered."

TREES™ is part of the Interactive Student Workbooks in the Teach BIG ECR Trifecta. More at teachbig.com

08/12/2026

"Who's the sun?"

The whole ballroom answered at once: teachers.

Randi was still inside the Itsy Bitsy Spider metaphor here, and this is the moment it turns. The rain is real — plenty of things wash our kiddos out of that water spout, and for a lot of them writing is the scariest one. But then the sun comes out, and the spider climbs again.

"You are the sun. The teachers, the educators, the secretaries, the janitors, everybody who's high-fiving those kids and telling them, 'Good job. You are a smart writer. You are a talented writer. You know how to go up the water spout of writing.'"

When the teacher is confident, the kids are confident. That's the whole thing.

08/12/2026

“HOW DO I GET MY STUDENTS BEYOND A 4-7 SCORE ON THE ECR?”

I have seen this question asked a lot recently and it makes my heart happy that so many of you have students in the middle scoring zones (4-7 range). But if you feel stuck in the middle zone of ECR scoring, how do we crawl our way out? Let’s talk!

Here’s my answer to a fellow teacher…..The answer to your fantastic question actually lies in the thinking levels of their responses.

If you’re not getting to levels four and five, then you may eternally be stuck in what I called the “middle zone” of scoring! I agree that more graphic organizers and just more writing will NOT get you there.

It has to do with the level of thinking. There is a method to this. It does not have to be a mystery!

Growth truly does mean growth, and that can really only be found at the fourth and fifth levels of thinking and how it shows up in a student’s writing.

Reach out, and I’ll send you the 5 Levels of Thinking Chart!!!! Just type 5!

08/12/2026

"You don't need me to sing anyway, right?"

Randi spoke in Mission CISD the way she opens most rooms — with something everybody in it already knows by heart. So she (with a little help from some friends) and a ballroom full of educators sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider together.

Then came the question that makes it land: "Who's the itsy bitsy spider?"

Our kiddos. Our students.

Every student in that building is climbing the spout. Some of them are getting washed out on the way up — and that's exactly where the rest of this conversation goes.

What a wonderful time at the Mission CISD Vendor Fair!I always love opportunities to connect with educators, hear what’s...
08/12/2026

What a wonderful time at the Mission CISD Vendor Fair!

I always love opportunities to connect with educators, hear what’s happening in their classrooms, and share resources that can help make teaching and learning a little easier.

Thank you, Mission CISD, for such a fun and welcoming event. It was a great day filled with conversations, connections, and plenty of laughter! 🤠📚

08/11/2026

Shining brighter, teaching smarter, and bringing BIG support wherever teachers are. ⭐

08/10/2026

We’re tired of keeping it a secret… and almost ready to reveal something BIG. 👀⭐

You searched for TEKS support… and found almost nothing. That’s about to change!!A new app built specifically for Texas...
08/09/2026

You searched for TEKS support… and found almost nothing. That’s about to change!!

A new app built specifically for Texas educators is coming soon!!!

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