Notebook Revelations That Empower Student Writers

Writer Joan Didion said our (writer’s) notebooks give us away. We are revealed by the contents. Our notebooks are a place to initially collect and then take those collected items and use them to spark further writing. As Ralph Fletcher , writer and educator reminds us, we use our notebooks to breathe in (collect) and breathe out (generate). With such thoughts ringing in my ears, I envisage notebooks brimming with words and ideas across a range of subjects and genres. The notebook is a place to experiment, take risks, make important discoveries or excavate memories and ideas from deep within. It can be a place to play with words. Writing becomes a pleasure. So why is it that in many classrooms when students take out their notebooks the pages reveal a picture far removed from the images I have just outlined? Why does one get the impression that the notebook in these school settings is only realizing a small part of its potential? Why is the critical ingredi...