My Teacher Has A Writer's Notebook Too!

As another school year commences here in Australia an increasing number of teachers are taking up the challenge of maintaining their own Writer’s Notebook Those who are just beginning to develop their writing lives often request examples of the types of entries one might gather when starting out. Entries, that will serve as examples to share with their students. Entries that will show students how their teacher interacts with the world.  

 If you are experiencing trouble launching into your own  writing, maybe these ideas might prompt your thinking. They may spark a connection to a topic/idea you feel strongly about; -enough to get the pen moving across the page...

 

I also hope we begin to see the whole class topic, 'My Holidays' disappear as a starting point for writing! It saddens me when this happens. It sets the bar of expectation so low for your teaching, and denies what we know about effective writing instruction.

 

Much better that classrooms hum with rich conversation about what is important to write about for each individual writer. Time invested in pre writing activities such as -drawing, discussing, brainstorming, listing, planning and reading enables student writers to gather the necessary ingredients to write about what matters to them. These are the necessary preliminaries!

 

 The student writer receives a clear message from the teacher -I trust you to come up with ideas! I'm not going to tell you what to write, but I am going to do everything in my power to support you to find out what it is you want to say as a writer! I want you to find your true voice as a writer.

 

All the time this pre-writing is going on, the teacher is  simultaneously sharing examples of their writing, guiding writers to find a focus for writing, asking lots of questions and establishing a conscious sense of community.  Ideas begin to float on a sea of talk.

 

So, I urge you to dive straight in and start filling the pages of your own notebook with words, drawing, maps, photographs, quotes and the like.  Your own writing is such a powerful model for your students. I urge you to take the risk...

 

To further support you, I offer up these possibilities:

Write about the first book you remember reading

Create a Life Map to show events in your life so far
Write an entry about one of the items on your Life Map.
Write an entry over any topic of your choosing. Write about your personal opinion
Write a response to a book you are currently reading
Write about the meaning behind a treasured object - what memories do you associate with that object?
Create a plan for a memoir piece
Write a memoir including all the sensory details and what you discovered about yourself from that slice of life experience
Make a list of your personal choosing. E.g. Things that take too much time
Write to influence - Choose an issue that is important to you, and write an opinion piece
Respond to an issue in the news
Write a short narrative about being sick as a child
Write about a place you would go right now and why
Write about something that was no fun at all
Make a list of things you still wish to do
Write about a time when you knew you were in trouble
How did you spend your pocket money?
Write about an embarrassing moment
Write about your relationship with weekends
Write a list about things you don’t need
Write about noise
Write about silence
Write about pretending

Write about disappointment

Write about joy

Make a list of settings you have been in during the holidays

Make a list of questions you wished you had asked
Write about your feet
Write about your treasures

Write about something that has changed

Write about something you consider to be fake

Write about something you wish you could still do
Write and DRAW about a place that is important to you
Create a map of a place you recall from your childhood

A single entry will start you on your way...

Slice Of Life Story -The Lost Spirit of Cowabunga Days

As I sat on the beach yesterday I began to think about change....

There was a time when I would race across the broad stretch of sand and charge into the surf –fearless in the foaming waves; prepared for the impending plunge. I would dive into the on coming wave, embracing the sudden cold rush without hesitation. I was the embodiment of the Cowabunga spirit!  The embodiment of joy, happiness and surprise. I dashed, splashed and crashed with the best of them. Well, that spirit evaporated fairly quickly. I’m not sure what happened to it actually. Maybe it was the natural progression from the bravado of youth to the measured machinations of adulthood?  Maybe the spirit of Cowabunga just drifted out with the tide?

I do know it’s gone. These days I take a more leisurely approach to entering the surf. I sit on the beach under my umbrella observing the state of the waves. I lather on sunscreen and conduct a quick poll of the numbers already swimming. I consider the sky, the strength and direction of the breeze, and the temperature of the day.

In time I walk slowly to the shoreline to dip a tentative toe in the water to gauge the temperature. If my test proves positive, I accept the invitation to undertake a full body immersion.

I walk slowly into the water –ankles, knees waist deep. I immerse my wrists in the water and allow my body to adjust to its watery environment. The wind whips up the waves and I stand taller and involuntarily shudder as the plimsoll line is broached. The operation is complete when I take the final plunge into the approaching waves. Sudden, dramatic, cooling bracing- I’m in and under –at one with the wetness.

The ceremony is complete. The freshness of the water revives and refreshes. It amuses my grandchildren. They never got to see me in my Cowabunga days. My expressions of joy and happiness are still apparent, just a little less physical these days.

I Received A 'Writer's Gift' Today

It’s always fun to receive a parcel in the mail. Today I received a parcel that surprised and delighted me. A group of Grade 4 students from Regency Park Primary School I had the pleasure of working with last year sent me a ‘Writer’s Gift.’ With the assistance of their committed teacher, Katherine Corr, these students had assembled a broad sample of their best writing across 2011 parcelled it up and presented it to me.  

 Katherine gently and consistently guided these students, encouraging their risk taking, prompting them to try new ideas, and supporting them through conferencing and feedback. This approach has incorporated a metacognitive component where student writers have been encouraged to be reflective about their work as writers. These were fertile conditions for the writer consultant to move into, I must admit.

Upon reading these samples I was astounded by the breadth of writing forms covered. I was immediately aware of the sense of ownership evident in the writing. Each writer had made informed choices regarding the shape and form for their respective pieces. They had submitted in their preferred genre. The writing displays a growing awareness of the text structures and features of specific genres.

Reading also revealed the potential of these writing gifts for use as student mentor texts. These are writing pieces I can easily bring to the attention of other young writers to inspire and grow their work.  So, I am doubly grateful to these fellow writers.  I now have tangible evidence of the growth of these enthusiastic young writers and an ongoing reminder of the sessions we spent together celebrating writing.

Let me briefly share some examples:

‘My heart was beating fast. My stomach felt like jelly. I couldn’t feel my legs. The Scenic Railway went up and down over the bumps. The whole of Luna Park was below me. The people looked like Barbie Dolls. On the road cars looked like little matchbox cars…’

Josie uses the Inside/Outside strategy

‘I shuffled closer to look at the stretched out view of the brightly lit city. The lights were like a colony of fireflies, and the buildings shimmered like silvery coins…’

Nerika paints a scene with words

‘Delightful chocolate stuck to my fingers. Flickering, my tongue asked for more of the sweet, rich chocolate. I was melting with happiness as the mix of sugary warm chocolate oozed through my mouth…’

Billie’s rich description

‘Planes shift around me, they travel left and right to their destinations

I am the cloud
When it is a stormy day the sky turns grey and it starts to rain
I am the cloud’
Grace’s poem incorporates the use of personification

‘This is no ordinary fairy tale. It has a twist that you shall enjoy…”

Brooke’s Lead

‘Syvlia didn’t even get to say bye. She was home in bed, same time, same day. ‘I’m never adding that magic cookie ingredient again she thought…’

Chayli’s Ending

‘ It all began when my triple-decker chocolate fudge cake blew up in my face…’

Crystal surprise Lead

'Basketball is loved by many people. It is one of the most popular sports in Australia. Males and females play basketball in different age groups. You need five or more players on each team to play.’

Daniel explains the game of Basketball

‘King Tutankhamen was only a minor pharaoh in the history of Egypt. He became famous when his tomb was discovered by Howard Carter…’

Katrina shares her growing knowledge of King Tut

‘Have you got time to go on a holiday? Why don’t you go to Africa!

Here are some reasons why everyone should go to Africa at least once in their life…”
Janvi writes persuasively about Africa

‘I believe sharks should be protected. They are wonderful animals and some species are now endangered. Here are three reasons why they should be protected…’

Rubyrose introduces her argument in favour of protecting sharks

'Pongopui Island has everything you want! Wait, I’ll tell you a secret, -the tickets are selling fast.’

Vivienne writes to influence us to visit this mythical holiday resort

‘Are you tired of normal water?

This fizzy drink will burp your mind!
It’s not normal Coca Cola, it’s…
BURP COLA!
It will make you feel like you’re in a different world!’
Chayli and Janvi try to persuade us to drink their questionable product

Slice of Life Story -Delight in Doing the Dishes

As writers, we need to celebrate those small seemingly mundane tasks in our daily lives. We need to embrace the wonder of ‘now’ and not allow it to become a casualty of the pace of our lives; swept aside in the rush towards the next item on a crowded agenda. There is beauty in small moments, even something viewed as a chore,  -doing the dishes.

Just because I meander, don’t assume I’m lost…

Dishes

We share the kitchen

Washing the dishes

There are too few to fret over

When its tea for two

We work instinctively

Easily

Back and forth

At our respective tasks

Washing, wiping

Putting away

Never colliding

Never bumping

No clash or clamour

We glide

Through our detergent driven manoeuvres

Partners in a waltz around the kitchen sink

Pots and pans return to assigned places

And the dishwasher feeds on the leftovers

Our conversation floats easily

Background music drifting through

A moment

A memory

As we measure the day

The chore dissolves in a word sea

We complete the task

Rinse and wring

Wipe and fold

Unconsciously

The dishes are done

No Problem

Making Effective Use Of The Writer's Notebook VIDEO

This video is my humble attempt to explain how maintaining a Writer's Notebook assists as a writer and educator. It's another way of sharing experiences. I have been maintaining a Writer's Notebook for almost thirty years and over that time they have undergone much change in content and format. It is an ongoing process.

Hope you see and hear something that resonates with how you see the notebook supporting you as a teacher of writing.

Summer Writes - Where Does My Poetry Hide?

Poetry should be part of the summer writes. It sings out to be included. So, where is it hiding? Where is it to be found? Let’s go see…

Where Does My Poetry Hide?

I look for it in conversations I hear on the street

In my collected treasures

Junky to precious

I look for it in lettuce, limes and lemons

In asparagus, apples, and apricots

I might find it in a packet of  extra strong peppermints

A jar of peanut butter

Smooth and cloying

I can find poetry in a cluster of seashells

Glittering sea glass

sandcastles and seaweed

I seek it out in a song’s refrain

And a child’s voice in a playground

I find it in my favourite books

An isolated word

Angry or otherwise

I see it in photographs that gently embrace my history

Poetry hides in a banana

A voice on the radio

A storm

In a day old newspaper article

I look for poetry in my wife’s eyes

Or recollections of my parents

I look for poetry when I listen to the morning song of magpies

I wake each day and I know it’s out there

Waiting for me

So where does your poetry hide?

Slice of Life Story- The Playground is a Magnet

I returned to the local playground last week at the suggestion of two of my grandchildren. We were waiting for my wife to finish some essential fashion research in nearby shops and a timely suggestion emerged, -Can we go to the park?
We have been coming to this park, overlooking Mornington’s harbour for many years. Initially, Vicki and I came with their parents. All my grandchildren have played here over time. I am warmed by that knowledge. The playground is a magnet.

When we arrive, the children explode from the car, entering the playground with muscles twitching and limbs stretching into action. They climb they fall, they leap, they dive; swinging and sliding and hanging like monkeys. All the time they’re searching out the next piece of playground equipment to be conquered. They take risks and enter into personal challenges. They rise and fall incurring blisters and bruises, yet still they persist. Fun wins out.  It is a time for the healthy pursuit of a bit of rough and tumble. This is no place for wimps. The playground is a metaphor for life.

As they have grown, I notice the children have adapted their use of certain equipment. It is fascinating to watch them find new ways to use familiar structures. Shimmying up a pole, rather than sliding down. Walking up the slippery slide, or sliding down on its outer edge in a move that openly defies the accepted manner of sitting in the groove provided and sliding sedately to the bottom. When they tire of the play equipment, they climb and scramble over the massive trees nearby.

Following this, they run laps of the adjoining open space, before demanding a game of ‘tiggy.’ I’m included in the contest. I should feel honoured that I’m considered capable. It’s a little difficult to chase because I’m holding a bag and a camera, but I do my best. They giggle and squeal as we romp about. Gotcha! You’re it!

The park is crowded with family groups on the day of our visit. Summer is the perfect time to let kids run free in the playground. Their voices sing a song of pure delight. Adults sport cameras in the quest to capture these special times. As usual I take a raft of photos. It is a compelling force. Kids are generally at their vibrant best in this environment. As they grow older they will move away from the playground, but I suspect they will return in time with the next generation of playground explorers, who will unleash their boundless energies in this space The playground is a magnet.

Summer Reads Feed the Writer Within

I am working my way through a host of books across the summer…

I started out with Natalie Goldberg’s ‘Old Friend from Far Away’ which is adding to my knowledge of memoir writing. Natalie Goldbeg says to memoir we must know how to remember and to assist the reader to improve memory she provides timed and associative exercises to guide writing development around memoir. A great book if you are considering committing part of your life story to paper.

I am also reading ‘Beyond Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue' by Benjamin Green. Again, this is a practical guide to assisting students to write free verse. Green writes with a comfortable voice and guides the reader through a series of exercises aimed at helping students create high quality poems. I see this as a teacher resource book where ideas could be adopted, modified and presented. I am always a little wary of books that present a step by step process for writing, -poetry in particular, but the structure provides does provide support for those teachers who find teaching poetry a challenge.

Keri Smith’s, 'How to Be An Explorer of the World' is an exciting collection of possibilities for documenting your interactions with the world. It’s a dip into kind of book containing pages dripping with potential projects to pursue. The artist in me loves this book. It challenges the imagination and sparks thought with sixty explorations to consider from people watching to finding words; from found paper art creations to documenting differences. This book is for those of us with harvester hearts.

I am reading Michael Rosen’s picture story book, ‘Sad Book.’ Rosen writes with total honesty about his thinking following the death of his son Eddie. Rosen writes about his sadness, how it affects him and the things he does to cope with his emotional state. A very personal story is shared with sensitivity. It speaks truthfully to readers of all ages. I can imagine this book becoming a mentor text when discussing the emotional heart of the writer.

Rosen writes, ‘Sometimes I’m sad and I don’t know why. It’s just a cloud that comes along and covers me up. It’s not because Eddie’s gone. It’s not because my mum’s gone. It’s just because.’

Michael Rosen has been a favourite poet of mine for many years. His poetry makes a perfect fit with my need for humour. That’s what makes this book all the more important to me. Rosen is taking me in the opposite direction emotionally, but the level of trust is strong so I feel like I need to listen and learn from his experience. The full gamut of emotion has been bridged. It is easy to be moved by the honesty of the writer's experience. I felt like I knew Eddie through the poet's earlier work that focused on Eddie's formative years. I shared this book with two of my grandchildren. They listened with great intent, raised numerous questions and asked me to read it again. Now, that's a great review.

My final book arrived as a Christmas gift, - Paul Kelly’s ‘How to Make Gravy.’ The master Australian born song writer and story teller has written a weighty memoir. Using the lyric lines from his songs, Kelly tells the stories of his life including the art of songwriting. This book provides what the indigenous people call songlines. The book is an exploration of big and little things in life.

All these books provide insights. They sustain me as both reader and writer. The words wash over; soaking into me. I am the sum of all my reading. Curing my ignorance is an on going quest.

I’m always telling students you can’t be a writer unless you’re a reader. You can’t be a reader unless you’re a thinker. I’m trying to put that into action as summer unfolds. Afterall, I don’t want that summer drop off in my reading levels.

The Writer As EXPLORER- Things on the Ground PROJECT

Each morning, when possible, I walk in the fresh air not too long after the sun has peeked above the far horizon. Being on holiday at present has enabled me to walk more frequently.

This morning though, as part of my summer writes I followed the lead of Keri Smith in her book, ‘How to be an Explorer of the World’ and set out for my morning walk with the words ‘Everything is interesting, look closer’ singing in my ears. My project was to take photos only of things found on the ground. Using my iphone I walked my usual route, pausing to snap items that caught my eye.

Since the age of about ten I have been enamoured by photography. As a teacher and a writer, this love of the photographic image has been a positive influence. I believe It has aided my eye as a writer. Small detail is important. What takes place inside a camera can also take place inside your head.

As teachers of writing we need to be collectors. We must observe, collect and analyse. This documentation of specific elements of our world, our culture through research is our lifeblood. I also collect to enable me to remember. Sometimes I collect things that initially appear meaningless or trivial, however the reflective process of writing often leads me back to an important realization or wider connection and I am better informed as a writer.

To have students grow into close observers of their world, we must lead them into new territories and methods of investigation. So, as I set out on my mission I found myself acutely focused.

The images I captured on my walk have become potential writing topics and ideas. They will assist me to achieve the vital link to new ideas.

I am already thinking about my next visual project. Maybe, the next focus (pardon the pun) could be, ‘things on walls.’  This was fun. It was easy and it was instructive. My summer writes continue. These images will go into my notebook. They will inform me as a writer. Anything can be a starting place…

Reflections on a Writing Year...

I read this morning that globally, 2011 was as stinky as a teenager’s bedroom, so maybe it’s just as well we are about to put a lid on it. It must be said though, it wasn’t all bad; it’s never is completely one way.

From the perspective of this little blog, it was quite a good year. I want to spend a little writing time reflecting on the fortunes of Living Life Twice…

I am pleased that this humble attempt to support my fellow teachers of writing has been so well received since its inception in 2008. The readership has grown steadily- this makes my heart sing.

I want to sincerely thank those of you who drop by regularly and take the time to leave a response. Your time investment is most appreciated. The feedback informs me, guides me and sustains me. Particular thanks to Linda at teacherdance, Deb Day, and Elsie who regularly drop by. Thank you also to those of you who have tweeted and emailed across the year.

Thank you to guest bloggers Elaine Hirsch and Lindsey Wright for their respective contributions this year, -new voices adding to the mix.

Thank you to those of you who have purchased copies of my book, 'Igniting Writing-When a Teacher Writes.' Your generous support has been heart warming. The book continues to spread out into new frontiers. It is currently undergoing an update, with additional sections being added.  An international book fair in Amsterdam next year is beckoning., so I am in for a busy summer of writing, - and rewriting.

I am going to take time over the Australian summer to read, write and relax. I will continue to be an explorer of my world, harvesting ideas and collecting notebook entries. Like so many of my colleagues I need to restore and recharge, so the pace of my life will consciously slow a little over the coming days and weeks. Remember, not everyone who meanders is lost!

So what does summer hold?

Family time and beach days
Catch up time with friends
Deeper reading and sustained writing
Watching cricket
Listening to music everyday
Daily writing opportunities
Some painting and photography
Rewriting an updated version of ‘Igniting Writing’
'The occasional bottle of wine' (Jimmy Buffett quote)
Adventures
Discoveries
Surprises

In 2012, I look forward to presenting at the VATE (Victorian Association of Teachers of English) Conference in April. ALEA (Australian Literacy Educators Association ) National Conference in Sydney in July

Working with Critical Agendas (professional learning providers) to spread the word about effective writing programs

Working with Hawker Brownlow Education, to present a series of writing workshops and continuing my on going consultancy work across schools including a project in Hamilton, Victoria on students and teachers using writer’s notebook

Stay safe blog followers. May your writing efforts be rewarding and may ideas flow to you freely. Best wishes to all for a happy and rewarding 2012. If you drop by, please leave a comment. Visitors are always welcome here...

Slice of Life Story -The Sound of Whistling

I was sitting in my favourite coffee fix café, Via Boffe’ yesterday wandering through some recently written notebook entries, whilst slowly savouring a cappuccino. The café was packed and pulsing with caffeine desperadoes’ A waitress ask me, ‘How do you get inspiration when it’s crazy like this? I glibly replied, ‘I bring it with me.’ I should have more accurately admitted inspiration has its own magic and can take place at any time, anywhere. It’s a matter of whether one is ready to receive it…

I became aware of a sound, an altogether foreign sound in a café -a sound, not unpleasant, but a sound not to be denied. A high lilting sound that swirled through the tiny café like smoke wisps. -not Mini Ripperton high, but high nonetheless. Where was it coming from? I turned in an effort to find its source.

A bald headed man wearing a mostly white t shirt and fawn jeans sat at the front window seat; a place I frequenlty covet when I come to the café. He was whistling, quite loudly, yet pleasantly. On his lap sat an open newspaper and next to him on the shelf facing the window was his coffee. He whistled with the same joy as a bird of the forest. I have to say I have never heard someone whistle in a café in living memory. I felt a sense of dislocation.  It was strangely intriguing to watch and listen to his tuneful whistling. The tune totally unfamiliar to my ears wafted around the café. Somehow it evaded the attention of the other patrons for no one appeared to notice the orchestra of the lips all around them. Conversations were not halted, nor heads  turned (except mine) Café staff continued to go about their appointed tasks without any hint of a whistle stop. I don’t see dead people, but apparently I am the only person who hears café whistlers! 

Presently, whistling man paused to take a sip of his coffee and thumbed through a few pages of the morning news. He rhythmically tapped the bench-top with his fingers.  I turned back to my notebook and feverishly scribbled some notes about this small yet compelling moment in my day.

A short time later, the whistling refrain started once more and with feeling, so I turned for a second time, listening actively. The second concert was noticeably shorter, but just as entertaining.  As I listened to his tuneful virtuosity, I found myself revisiting an earlier experience almost nine years ago to the day in a place on the opposite side of the world, and in another season …

‘Standing at a rather forlorn Brooklyn bus stop directly opposite a funeral parlour had me thinking that the street itself was a cause for grief.

The wind blew along its full length and slapped me squarely in the face. The bus shelter offered little respite from the icy blasts it carried. I was too cold to bother reading the advertising hoarding. And anyway, it hadn’t changed for months.  I wrapped my coat more tightly around me, sunk down into my scarf while jamming my gloved hands into my coat pockets. I felt no warmer for these efforts. Winter plays the part of a bully so convincingly at times. Above the swirling wind, the traffic growled as cars and trucks negotiated the intersection.

I stood in this miserable place along with three women. We stood in silence, bracing ourselves against the bitterness of the day. I was counting down the freezing minutes, willing my bus to arrive.

…And then I heard it. -Faintly at first, but discernable as whistling. Where was it coming from this sweet sound in such a god forsaken place?  It floated above the sounds of winter misery. I realized it was coming from somewhere behind me. I turned to see a tall, thin, elderly man. He was leaning against the wall of a corner deli, directly behind the bus shelter.  A bag slung over his shoulder gave me the impression he was journeying home from a day at work somewhere. He wore a cap made of a stocking type material and a coat that appeared no match for the weather of the day. -His long narrow face reminiscent of the legendary Popeye.  His whiskery face masked in a grey sheen. I kept taking momentary glimpses, not wishing to lock onto to his gaze for fear of making him feel conspicuous, uncomfortable. 

The sound of his whistling rose gently above the wind, the traffic and the surrounding ugliness. It spiralled through the wintery air, embracing my consciousness. He was whistling the sounds of the season. ‘Let heaven and angels sing.’ I had never heard whistling like this. This man made a nightingale sound raucous.  -The rawness of the day surpassed by the lyrical sound of his whistling. I stood silently, listening to this stranger and found myself successfully shutting winter out.  I wondered if the other people were as absorbed as I was at that moment, by one man’s whistling….’ Do you hear what I hear?’  If the beauty of the whistler’s notes were reaching their hearts, their faces failed to reveal their inner joy. They stood like Easter Island statues throughout the entire performance.

The bus arrived just as he launched into ‘Deck The Halls.’ We all eagerly climbed on board. I stood back so that I could get a better look at whistling man, as he boarded the bus. The bus was mercifully devoid of crazies and we all sat in relative peace. I sat opposite the whistling stranger and wondered how he had learned to whistle with such virtuosity. What made him decide to whistle Christmas carols in that drab and depressing place? I’m glad he did of course, but it was a delight I had not expected. I had approached that bus stop contemplating a battle with winter’s freeze and found myself moved by one man’s attitude to life. The simple act of one man’s whistling had refocused my energies.  As I departed the bus near Grand Army Plaza, I passed by the whistling stranger and placed my hand on his shoulder. I thanked him for his beautiful whistling. ‘Thank you sir,’ he replied. ‘Thank you so much’ He offered me the bonus of a smile.

As we went our respective ways, I think we both felt warmed. I was glad that I spoke to him. I could have easily sat in my seat, wrapped in silence, but then he would never have known what pleasure his whistling had provided. Hopefully he will continue to whistle, and others will enjoy the simple pleasure I enjoyed.

Music is all around us just waiting to be heard. Sometimes you hear it in the most unlikely settings and in quite unexpected forms too. The simple act of whistling is a spirit lifter, no doubt in my mind anyway. From a wintery Brooklyn street to a tiny Italian café in Mornington, Australia, it makes no difference- the effect is the same. The spirit is lifted by the sound of another person’s joy.  Power to you, whistlers all…

Summer and the Joyfully Literate Teacher…

The end of the Australian school year is rapidly approaching.  At the conclusion of every school year the need to tie up a multitude of loose ends prior to the summer holidays is paramount. It is a demanding time
However, I am equally aware there is a period of time looming on summer’s horizon when tired educators will have time to relax and regenerate their energy reserves.- A time for relaxation, holidays, family and recreation.

May I suggest that summer holidays present a fantastic opportunity to embrace your inner writer and launch your very own writer’s notebook?  If you have already made this decision - I applaud your actions. What a wonderful investment in your role as a teacher of writing!

Many teachers read extensively during vacation breaks. Free of the pressure of the classroom, it is possible to indulge in more personal reading; becoming re-acquainted with favourite authors; reading  that book you received as a gift.

It seems to me that at this point it makes perfect sense to add a little writing alongside your reading.  If you accept this challenge, it will mean that when the new school year begins you will have compiled a sampling of text that will assist you to model aspects of writing to a fresh group of students. It will give you immediate writing credibility with your students. You will have captured summer memories, made lists, gathered artefacts, made drawings, gathered photos, capture small yet significant moments. Such action will assist you to connect more easily to your students. You will assume the role of a teacher who writes, enabling you to teach writing from the inside. This is far better than trying to get kids to do something you make a conscious choice to avoid.  Your credibility plummets like a wounded duck!

Don’t wait until the school year begins. It will be too late then and you will be overwhelmed by a tsunami of administrative demands and organizational matters –you get the picture, I’m sure.  The world is full of people who are full of good intentions. The challenge is to turn one’s self into a real life action hero! 

Just as you want your students to make a good start to the school year, you should expect the same for yourself.  I’m not suggesting you write to some rigid schedule, just quarantine a little time to document some of the rich pickings of your summer. It will be a great investment in designing the writing curriculum – and it’s painless! I am not suggesting that you dedicate yourself to just writing about summer exclusively. As always you should focus on matters that are important to you. Maybe your reading may spark your writing, who knows?  

There is no better time to send this message. I need to reach you now while you still have your educators cap on. Hopefully, it isn’t pulled down over your eyes and your hands aren’t over your ears.

This summer, don’t just dive into the surf. Dive into some writing. -Approach writing in the same manner that one approaches summer reading. The writes of summer could provide the stimulus to launch a fabulous school year in 2012!  I can’t offer a free set of steak of knives with that, but I know it comes with certain intrinsic rewards.  Should you choose to accept this mission –share this joyous news with your colleagues!

As a writer, I love this time of the year. It affords me precious time to read and write. Time I don't have to steal. When the fog of the academic year fades away, my writing comes to the fore. I embrace it eagerly, knowing it will take me to new places and present new discoveries.  

Good luck with your projects. May you experience a joyfully literate summer.

Creating Sparks In the Writing Classroom

How do we spark and then maintain an interest in writing among our students? This is the challenge all teachers of writing face. Here are a few ideas to ignite the writing in your classroom.
 I begin by sharing my own writing. This is where you establish credibility as a teacher of writing. My writer’s notebook with its range of text investigations lets students know that I am a writer  -just like them!

I engage students in conversations around my writing life.- Sharing how I harvest ideas,  how I notice things and how I solve problems in my writing. Such conversations create a powerful dialogue that aims to demystify writing, making it appear more accessible to the novice writer. I am sharing the powerful message that writing holds something worth pursuing.

I share examples of quality writing (fiction and non fiction) that have caught my eye. It is important for young writers to see what it means to read like a writer.

I celebrate the wonder of words used by authors in innovative and interesting ways and invite students to write in the style of an author they admire. I take time to show them how I also learn from authors I admire.

I am consciously laying a foundation for writing; creating a climate that welcomes the celebration of language. To do this I encourage students to join me, take a risk and dive into the writing life!  I am investing heavily in a range of pre-writing strategies and activities. Writing is so much more than form and structure.

Important Actions That Spark Writing

• Encourage students to develop regular lists of potential writing ideas/topics
• Encourage students to decide how they might best write about a specific idea
• Introduce artifacts into the classroom and show how they can spark memories and ideas
• Demonstrate the value of inquiry to stimulate writing ideas
• Draw- maps, characters, storyboards
• Demonstrate how you write across a range of genres when considering a topic to find what best suits your needs as a writer
• Read, read, read and make the reading –writing connections visible
• Read about writing and identify writing mentors for yourself. Encourage your students to follow your lead.
• Make talking about writing an integral part of your writing classroom.

Action VERBS! Guest Blogger, Elaine Hirsch Returns

Guest Blogger, Elaine Hirsch returns with a post about verbs and the potential they possess for injecting action and vitality into our writing. Our work with developing writers should place verbs in a prominent position. They are the muscles of our writing- the heavy lifters, and as Elaine writes, verbs ‘incite all your words to dance and sing together instead of just standing in incoherent, silent groups.’ More power to verbs!

I’m certain you’ll gain renewed appreciation for the great work action verbs perform when you read Elaine’s post:

Verbs describe some kind of action, but some verbs are more active than others. Your writing leaps from commonplace to persuasive and engaging just by changing the types of verbs you use. Whether you're writing fiction, a master's degree dissertation, or copy for advertisements, active verbs make readers want more. They switch on readers' imaginative vision and help them truly feel the meaning of your words.

“The verb is the heartthrob of the sentence,” as Karen Gordon writes in The Transitive Vampire. “Without a verb, a group of words can never hope to be anything more than a fragment, a hopelessly incomplete sentence, a eunuch or dummy of a grammatical expression.” What's more, selection of active and more interesting verbs can make the difference between lively writing and words that merely shamble along.

Using plain verbs like “walk” when you could use something like “amble” can condemn your writing to be ordinary and unconvincing. Readers want to be hooked from the first sentence. They want their imaginations thrust in the middle of the action. Active verbs help readers understand what you’re trying to convey, and stay engaged in your writing.

Active verbs also help you keep your writing concise. The shorter your sentences, the easier they are for readers to understand. While it's not a good idea to have short, choppy sentences throughout your writing, using active verbs to reduce the number of words readers must comprehend in your writing makes a positive difference.

Verbs like “elicit,” “conducted,” and “modified” help readers quickly grasp the full meaning of your words. Active verbs capture the subtle connotative meanings more commonplace verbs can't reach. Using active verbs in your business writing is especially important to convince and persuade readers. Concise writing in business is also highly valued because it takes less time to process and understand.

Active verbs give readers more powerful mental images and help them more easily understand your meaning. Words that do more than just state what happened but also convey the emotional tenor or some other level of nuance associated with the event are vital to good writing. Without them, your writing just does the bare minimum of communicating basic meaning.

With active verbs, you can reduce the number of words it takes to say something. You also express deeper and fuller meaning. Since verbs connect words to form complete ideas, your writing should be full of verbs to incite all your words to dance and sing together instead of just standing in incoherent, silent groups. Active verbs are the key to starting the music and getting the words’ feet tapping.

Writing Lessons? Please Stop Says Jay Mathews

Confronting article written by Jay Mathews on his view of the teaching of writing in many U.S. schools.  Mathew's article first appeared in the Washington Post under the banner, Class Struggle. I thought it was worth sharing, as it provides another perspective on writing, particularly in the Secondary education setting in a comparative system. The column has stirred debate about the teaching of writing with the NWP (National Writing Project) urging educators to join in with their responses. Jay Mathews is an education columnist.

Originally Posted at 10:00 AM ET, 11/13/2011

Writing lessons? Please stop

By Jay Mathews

With a few exceptions, our schools are bad at teaching writing. Students are not asked to do much of it, mostly because reading and correcting their work takes so much time. Instruction methods are often academic and lifeless.
English teachers rarely assign non-fiction reading and are even less apt to require non-fiction writing. Almost no high school students, except those in private or International Baccalaureate schools, are required to do major research papers.
Worthy attempts at reform haven’t gotten far. Writing instruction is killing our children’s natural desire to express themselves. Compare their school assignments to their e-mails and you will see what I mean.
The only way to fix this is to tear up what we are doing and start over.
Leading this movement is Paula Stacey, an editor and educator who has taught every level of writing instruction. Her Sept. 21 Education Week piece exposed the torture that is Composition 101. “We have the entire English department at a local high school,” Stacey wrote, “embracing a schoolwide essay format that calls for exactly three central paragraphs containing exactly eight sentences: topic sentence, detail sentence, commentary sentence, another detail sentence, another commentary sentence, a final detail sentence, a final commentary sentence, and a concluding sentence.
“At a different high school across town, a history teacher hands out zeros to students who don’t have the thesis statement as the final sentence in the opening paragraph. Meanwhile, a woman I know who teaches at an elite research university bemoans the fact that her students, among the best in the country, have mastered the five-paragraph essay, but can’t develop a complex idea in writing.”
The new common core standards for ninth and 10th grade writing are enough to chill a classroom. Here is what they recommend for teaching how to write an argument:
“Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns. Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.”
The result of such clerical work is usually unreadable. Few people who learn to write this way ever make it their life’s work. The professional writers I know got excited not in class but while compiling personal journals, or composing poems and songs, or sending long letters or e-mails to friends, or working for the school newspaper.
I have been influenced by educators who think free reading is the best homework for elementary school. Why not add some free writing? Stacey suggested junking “the narrow models, the graphic organizers, the formats and the steps” and do something very simple: “Ask students questions, read their answers, and ask more questions.”
Even elementary school students love research opportunities. How long would it take for a fifth grader to produce a report on which of her grandparents spent the most time in school, and why? Once in high school, they can read Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” and do a 4,000-word researched essay on a teacher-approved topic.
They will still need good teachers. Teaching writing the right way is hard work. But educators have told me they do it because for many of their students it is the most satisfying work they will ever do.
Most school districts don’t see this. But some teachers have already discarded the old rules. They inspire their students to be vivid and clear, rather than just orderly. They show how much this can improve their lives, from love letters to job applications. What better lesson is there in an Internet era in which more words are being written than ever before?

By Jay Mathews |