Living Life Twice

For this writing piece I didn't have to look any further than my left hand. I was holding the idea right there -and my deeper thoughts followed... I have always been pen particular. Pernickity, or should that be penickity ? My pen of choice is a Uniball Gel Impact pen with black ink. Always black ink. Must be black ink.  It is the pen I prefer when writing. It feels comfortable in my hand. When writing with this pen, words seem to flow more easily. They effortlessly spill across the page. I actually feel like I am speed writing. Being left handed, this continues to be my most glorious delusion. I also have a Lamy fountain pen which also uses black ink cartridges. I enjoy writing with this pen too. It has become accustomed to my left handed peculiarities. I would never a let a right hander use it. Call me fussy. It won’t change my thinking on pen sharing. Not for me, a pen of questionable origin, no generic biro with a chewed end. No novelty pen with gaudy fluoro coloured ink. ...

Many teachers don't see themselves as writers – a disconnect often rooted in their own restrictive school experiences where writing meant following rigid assignments with little room for creative freedom. Yet writing alongside students transforms teaching, allowing educators to demonstrate the authentic struggles and joys of the writing process while building their own confidence with words. In   Notebook Notions , experienced educator and writer Alan j Wright shares the lessons learnt across a rewarding career, revealing how the simple act of keeping a writer's notebook can revolutionise both your teaching practice and your relationship with writing itself.   Drawing from years of experience as a teacher who writes – and a writer who teaches – Alan offers practical wisdom on launching and sustaining a writer's notebook practice. From collecting raw ideas and embracing inspiration to moving notebook entries into finished projects, this book provides a clear pathway for ed...

  Fellow teachers of writing please allow me to allay your concerns about the state of sentence structure among young writers. Help is at hand.  It can be improved by using a range of simple, yet effective strategies. Many of the same techniques used to teach fluency in reading can be used in writing. We need to highlight to students the importance and power of fluency. By exposing them to writing samples that flow easily, they will be more able to recognise good sentence structure and apply this skill to their own writing. By working with students and sharing exemplary literature samples we can highlight such important features as sentence beginnings, sentence length, sentence combining, and run on sentences. Sentence Beginnings: Sample Student Writing 1 I have a bike. It is red. I like to ride it. It is fun. My friend and I like to ride in the forest. It is really cool there. We have a good time. When it is time to go home I have to put my bike in the garage. That is where I...

 Teaching   Writing Under The Influence As teachers of writing we frequently gravitate to the words of authors we admire. We then take their observations about the writing process and apply them to our own writing situations. However, when we find ourselves reading published works- novels, picture books, news articles, or poems, the process that has delivered remains largely hidden. We may find ourselves speculating about what action has taken place in order for these profound words to appear before our eyes. We may even begin to search for answers. It is important to empower ourselves in order to be able to empower our student writers.  Our own understandings must grow in order to develop strategies we can teach our students. This offers an exciting prospect for our teaching. When we operate in this space, our teaching is full of possibility. The writing actions of authors we hold in high regard begin to inform our teaching.  We start to consider the impact a partic...

  When young learners confidently employ meta language while discussing their writing, it indicates the underpinning of mindful teaching . Talk is crucial to the writer and such use of accurate writing terms does not come about by accident or osmosis . It arises when teachers consciously articulate such terms while undertaking their considered work as teachers of writing. They think aloud, they share their own writing process , model and demonstrate the behaviours and attitudes they wish to see among the developing writers in their care. They teach metacognitively . They are consistent in their approach to teaching, and they reinforce effective writing actions witnessed in the classroom and beyond. It is most evident they are securing their teaching practices on sound foundations. These actions are quite obviously, deliberate. They articulate the meta language they want young writers to adopt and confidently use. They are living the very behaviours they wish...

       I am pleased and proud to announce a major milestone on the journey of Living Life Twice . This post marks exactly 1000 posts in support of teachers of writing ! That's more than half a million words in support of teachers and the young writers in their care...      Living Life Twice launched  on June 9th 2008 and the first post was titled Memories Of Red Pen People . Since that time there have been almost 400 Slice of Life Stories and over 600 posts dealing with theory and practice surrounding literacy and more specifically -writing!       When I launched this blog way back in 2008, I wanted it to provide support for teachers of writing, but it has also served to provide additional meaning and reflection around my own writing life .  I am most pleased that I continue to strive to fulfill these original aims.       In a time of increasing teaching mandates, scripted lessons, AI and pre-packed ...

This is a journey that begins with selecting and sharing powerful texts and simply letting kids enjoy them. It is a journey of discovery. It involves sharing texts with learners. Texts we know and trust. Texts written in such compelling ways that they can assist us to more effectively teach the craft of writing. They become mentoring texts.  Think of mentor texts as a term that essentially means – models, exemplars or examples . ‘Mentor texts’ is not something we do within a writing program for its own sake. It is not an entity in itself. It is an integral part of learning how to become a better writer. It requires the ability to read like a writer in order to be able to see the potential in a text to provide a model worth following or adopting. Our starting point as teacher/writers is to share the joy of reading great words and the possibilities they might potentially spark in the mind of the reader. Reading a text initially for enjoyment, before you move to examining craft, incr...

 Announcement! My newly minted webpage is life and alert. Feel free to explore it's pages. Click and go... https://www.alanjwrightauthorpoet.com /

  When we introduce poetry into our classrooms we need to present it as a celebration of language. We must let our students feel it has the potential to be a great thing for them to enjoy. Poetry is indeed special. Wallace Stevens , the American poet referred to poetry as ‘Simply one of the best things in life.’ Poetry invites the reader, or the receiver to share some of the imagination and wonder of the writer. For a young child, appreciation of poetry grows with exposure and a growing sense of familiarity with the form. There may not be immediate acceptance. An understanding of poetry develops when the child is invited to listen carefully to the language and to notice the language patterns and structures used. Once understanding is established, the inexperienced poet will more readily engage with poetry and begin to experiment with poetry in all its forms.  Drawing attention to patterns and structures, rhythms and rhymes increases the likelihood young poets will embra...