Living Life Twice

My fervent hope for this year, as it is every year, is for student writers to encounter teachers who are focused on teaching the inexperienced writer how to write, rather than what to write.  For this to become a reality, teachers of writing must be prepared to commit to being writers too.  Writing alongside your students sends a vital message regarding the importance of being someone who chooses to write. it immediately elevates writing in the minds of impressionable, curious learners. I urge everyone who is responsible for teaching writing to be bold and brave. Become the risk taker you want your students to be.   I can say this with full confidence;  every teacher possesses the potential to be the most influential writing mentor students will encounter in any school year.  You don’t have to be a published writer to successfully mentor young writers, but you most certainly need to be a teacher who writes. You must be someone who makes time to write. S...

UPDATED February 2022 Our youngest writers frequently undervalue their own lives and the small and large moments that punctuate those lives, as a source for writing. They often cling to second hand experiences derived from watching movies, playing video and computer games as a narrow source of potential writing ideas. They therefore remain unaware that this means their writing is frequently a rehashing of somebody else's ideas.   We are all influenced by such experiences, but it would be sad if it was used to the exclusion of all those rich experiences that take place beyond the world of the screen. Kids miss out on so much if this is what inspires their thinking. So how do their teachers assist them to make stronger connections to their own experiences?  After all, we write best about those things we know the most about. We can begin by modelling how we as adult writers gain ideas for writing from a range of sources including artefacts, mementos, keep...

In the early weeks of a new school year, I would hopefully expect to hear conversations around writing raising matters with student writers, similar in intent to the types of matters listed below. Are you writing about things that matter to you -matters you care most about, matters close to your heart? If your students are writing merely to please a teacher or impress their peers, then this conversation is quite important. We should never embark upon writing we don’t care about. It should matter to the writer. It might actually be a piece they need to write quite urgently because they never want to forget that particular moment/ feeling/ event/ experience. Is there something you are hoping to see improve around your writing this year? How do you intend to achieve this change? Do you know why you are writing about a particular topic/issue/idea? In other words, have you thought about why it is important for you to write about this matter at this time. W...

Each and every time a teacher enters a classroom they must be conscious of bringing with them all the reading and writing they have ever done. They must bring with them all those 'unwitting collaborators' as Frank Smith so aptly called them. Young learners should be encouraged to do the same thing. All that prior knowledge and experience has potential to inform the work currently under consideration. For teachers this background knowledge represents a powerful armory. When we consciously consider this mountain of knowledge, we are never alone in our teaching. We are not isolated as educators. All those authors sit at our shoulder ready to support our valuable contributions to the reading and writing lives of students. Quite understandably, I can't recall the titles of every single book I have read, but they remain a part of me. As my reading life continues to expand in various directions, the reading I am currently engaged in frequently allows me to connect t...

I wrote this poem almost 30 years ago. It celebrates simple pleasures.  Simple Pleasures The memories of this splendid Saturday Etched indelibly on mind With all the colours intact Browsing through the bookshop Walking and talking The touch of your hand A bicycle ride on a wintery afternoon Simple pleasures  We shared. My feelings so close to the surface spill over Warm and gentle I don't feel vulnerable I feel loved. When your eyes fix upon me They journey straight to my heart I am carried to where you are just as love will always do Simple pleasures  Have become my greatest delight It is being here  Now  With you  When you say simply I love you. It pleases me to report I have retained this vision of celebrating simple pleasures from that time forward. It is important to note those small yet significant moments that float across our days. Moments observed and shared. And so it happened, yet again...  Yesterday, first ...