Your students dump every thought they’ve ever had onto the page — then set to work stuffing these into their essay accordingly without a single nod to order or flow.
You know the same, frustrating patterns our writers find themselves stuck in.
If you teach writing...
Braindumping ideas.
They treat structure like a script— forcing ideas into PEEL and TEEL until the writing feels more like a performance than a point of view.
Forced formatting.
They restate the question, pick the obvious stance, then plant their flag — without ever digging below it.
Surface-level arguing.
They’re ready to defend the mighty silo of their own thinking, without pausing to consider differing opinions.
One-sided thinking.
They toss out evidence like glitter and sprinkle in citations like seasoning, with no real link nor relevance to the point they’re trying to make.
Disconnected support.
They rehash what they’ve already said, or offer single-sentence 'solutions' to global crises like it’s *the* mic drop the world needs.
Shallow conclusions.
It's defeating to
It's even more exhausting to
read.
grade...
So what gives?!
You're a star teacher who's doing all the things...
You’re constantly modeling the process.
Your writers don't have a problem.
They have a problem.
You’re running writing conferences like a one-person think tank.
You’re scribbling feedback so targeted, so tailored—you’ve all but written the final draft *for* them.
You’re pouring whole prep periods into second and third drafts that don’t look all-that-different from the first.
You’re spending nights + weekends grading paragraphs that meet the rubric—but miss the point…
writing
thinking
No matter how much you pour in or how hard you try to pull their ideas out...
student writing stalls at simple and idles on safe.
That's where The Compass Method comes in!
And, sure, that might be enough to pass a standardized test or two today—but it won’t help them tackle the complexities our world will hand them tomorrow...
When our writers build arguments on the page, they’re not just answering a question—they’re stepping into the world’s messiest, most pressing issues. Problem is...
We push them to argue before we’ve taught them to inquire.
We push them to perform but skip the part where they learn how to process.
This isn't your run-of-the-mill graphic organizer.
And it isn't a plug-n-play formula dressed up as higher-order thinking.
It's a deep thinking tool.
The Compass Method helps your writers:
Anchor their thinking in a clear, strategic direction — so they don’t start with everything, and end up saying nothing.
Deepen their consideration of different viewpoints — learning to understand someone else's opinion while interrogating their own.
Investigate who’s affected — who gains, who loses, who holds power, and who’s left out.
Stretch their perspective across time, place, and circumstance— so they’re not just filling in their outline, they’re actively shaping insight.
Two options...
Single resource
The Compass Method
$12
workshop bundle
The Anti-Essay Strategy Pack
$47
Complete PDF Resource
(74 pages)
Includes step-by-step strategy, student-friendly materials, and standards alignment!
Full Video Workshop Series
(Anti-Essay Strategy)
Includes the Compass Method resource PLUS FOUR MORE, stellar resources just like it!
(Start Smart Intro Strategy, Photo Essay Strategy, Tree of Reasoning, Innovator's Challenge)
