Living Life Twice

 'Agency is about having control over your choice of writing topic and ownership over how you go about writing it. Agency helps create a culture of writers with self determination.' Ross young and Felicity Ferguson 'Real World Writers-A handbook For Teaching Writing With 7-11Year Olds' Across the years I have worked with many teachers who constantly strived to provide young writers in their care with a genuine sense of agency. They worked respectfully to develop a classroom culture where every writer was encouraged and supported to make informed decisions regarding writing projects they wished to pursue. Many of these teachers were operating from this position before the term -agency, ever came into vogue. Agency produces great results. It's presence leads to the  successful producation of meaningful writing pieces. Writers with a strong sense of agency frequently exceed expectations, improve their academic outcomes and exhibit increased engagment and motivation for...

Returning to a class of year 2 learners after an absence of two weeks, I began by asking them if they were able to remember what we had focused on during our previous session together. They thought for a moment and then began to recall some of the writing ideas we had previously examined. I was most impressed when they mentioned that we had been looking at the ways in which writers gather ideas. It was then a student seated at the back of the group raised his hand enthusiastically looked me directly in the eye and told me,  'We did lots of brain-draining.'  'Close,' I said. 'I think you mean brainstorming, although sometimes it does feel a little draining.' Ah yes, from the innocent we often get refreshing honesty and accuracy.  Now that there prior knowledge had been activated, it was time to move into the new workshop. This time we were looking at the craft strategy of ‘inside/outside’ (physical world/emotional world) The teachers and I had noticed that much o...

  I am proud and committed word collector. I listen, I acquire and I use particular words quite mindfully. I am a logophile. I recall as a child frequently delving into dictionaries in search of new words. My parents frequently provoked my thinking with new words. I remain most grateful for their word conscious efforts during my formative years. I find beauty in old words. Beautifully exact words. Words rarely used. Words from English and other languages that ring in my ears and beg to be slotted into conversations, jotted down for safe keeping in my various notebooks in the hope that I might find a place for them among forthcoming words. Occasionally, I recall or hear a word or phrase that has fallen out of use and I attempt to revive it by sprinkling into my conversations, my writing. I recently heard the word   skedaddle   and felt compelled to use it. As a child, we frequently   skedaddled   from the scene. Particularly when something   nefarious  ...

  THE impact of TEACHERs WHO Write I remain very aware of the influence a teacher’s own writing has on impressionable students. Some teachers believe they have little actual power when it comes to the attitudes of young learners. The reality is, teachers control the very climate in the classroom. I frequently find myself invoking this quote from educator, Haim Ginott. ‘I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.’ So, when a teacher presents to students as a fellow writer, the children’s world view of writing is challenged. Something qu...

Here's a way to encourage the growth of metacognitive writers and support young writers to pay greater attention to the wondrous words of fellow writers. Ask your curious and keen young learners to gather some of their favourite books, then choose a page number. Turn to that page in each book and read until your eyes settle on words you wish you had written. Copy that extract with full attribution into your notebook.It is most important to acknowledge the source of the words chosen. This can be hand written or typed. I chose to type my chosen extracts, sometimes though I hand write them. When you finish compiling your entries, talk to a fellow writer and explain your choices. Envisage yourself writing in that style. Don't forget to try it first before you invite your young writers to try it for themselves. It's a wonderful opportunity to model how practice reading like a writer. This strategy differs from 'Words I Wish I Had Written' which involves writing random e...

E stablishing a clear sense of a story's setting is vitally important if the writer wishes to respect the reader. Inexperienced writers often gloss over this important aspect of writing.. So, recently while working with writing groups at Benton Junior College we devoted time to investigating how experienced writers create a sense of setting and then allow the characters to act out their respective roles in this space. I drew their attention to the fine detail that writers often include to create a clearer picture in the mind of the reader. We talked about familiar settings- large/ small. We talked about imagined settings. We examined books where authors highlighted settings. The aim was for these young writers to garner ideas about how they might go about such crafting in their stories. As a further pre-writing activity, young writers drew their chosen places. They drew scenes from various angles, some commenced to list and label words considered relevant to the writing yet to co...