Living Life Twice

‘We have reached the most dangerous part of our lesson young writers’ I announce to the group of students seated before me. I lower my voice and lean towards them. ‘ We must be careful when moving back to our seats to start our writing. There is a danger of being ambushed and taken away from your mission. Do not let anyone distract you from commencing the writing mission you have just discussed with your writing buddy. Someone may try to strike up a conversation that may lead you off course. Who can make it back to their writer’s notebook safely without being drawn away from their mission? ’ They all smile knowingly.   It’s all a bit of a game, but the truth is I want to narrow the distance between the young writer’s intention and action. I want every writer in the room to have the best possible chance to address the invitation page offers, by capturing their most amazing words. So, they need to be aware of the possibility of being distracted from the task they have identified du...

  Understanding Writers With Output Issues Unfortunately kid blamers still exist in some schools. They rationalize the events in their classrooms by informing everyone that certain students are lazy, unmotivated, disengaged. While that may be the individual's perception, the critical question that begs answering is ‘why?’ If a student appears reluctant to write, to read, to participate in general classroom activities- that needs to be explored. It may be an issue external to the classroom, It may also be an issue related to the classroom, or teaching style. Either way, to simply blame the student falls well short of professional responsibility. This issue of output failure is explored in 'The Myth of Laziness' by Mel Levine. Levine argues the desire to be productive is universal but that drive can be frustrated by dysfunction that inhibits optimal output or productivity. Levine explains that difficulties associated with writing are far and away the most telling sign of out...

  A few years back I learnt the term ‘stillpoints’ upon reading a book titled   ‘ Write  Starts – Prompts, Quotes and Exercise to Jumpstart Your Creativity’ by Hal Zina Bennett.   Stillpoint is Bennett’s word for those moments in our lives when we are totally at one with the  now ; we are so  with  whatever we are doing or feeling or thinking that everything else seems to stop. It suggests we are committed to that particular moment in time. In writing, Bennett sees stillpoints as  aha!  moments created when our words strike a special chord. A stillpoint occurs when we express something clearly, authentically and beautifully. It resonates as clearly as the ringing of a fine crystal bell. Sometimes teachers refer to this as writing about small moments, where we linger to write in greater detail. The writer dwells on a moment to highlight it for the reader. The moment is expanded with deliberate intent. It emulates the action of blowin...

Small group, Explicit teaching Explicit teaching has become a buzz word in the education sector in recent times. It is being waved about as a magical discovery. The reality is, -it is not a newly discovered strategy. It has in fact been present in schools, particularly Australian schools for over four decades. Has everyone been using it? Well, no, but highly effective teachers of writing have been successfully employing it to teach the craft of writing for many years. They utilize explicit teaching to guide inexperienced writers about how to write, rather than what to write. Teaching the craft of writing requires the writing teacher to be explicit in their work with students. This occurs when a developmental program of instruction is provided. It occurs when teachers are clear about what it is they want children to learn and when they provide a meaningful, focused program of instruction. When consideration is given to focused learning students are provided with opportunities to make se...