Educator Innovator

NWP Radio sits down with Katie Wood Ray and Stella Villalba to discuss the new edition of Wondrous Words, Katie’s landmark 1999 book on responsive writing instruction. Twenty-five years later, the authors explore how teaching has changed—and why their message about writer agency, teacher decision-making, and the joy of teaching is more urgent than ever. In an era of mandated curricula and scripted lessons, they argue for a pedagogy of listening and kidwatching that treats students as writers making real choices, not just students completing assignments.