Living Life Twice

Each time I visit a school as part of a Meet The Author Day and talk to groups of young writers about the writing life I am passionately pursuing, certain questions arise during the course of a session: Where do you get your ideas? What inspired you to write poetry? Do you have a favourite poem? Do you prefer rhyming verse or free verse? How long have you been writing poetry? How did you get your poetry book published? How long does it take to write a book? All these questions are valid. All of them quite normal. But one Grade 6 boy’s question set me to thinking more deeply about my response. He raised his hand and asked, ‘Do you like sport? I have been asked this question  many times before. In fact, it has been raised with me on numerous occasions and it is always posed by boys. I suspect that in the minds of many boys, poetry and sports are viewed as mutually exclusive pursuits. Poetry is seemingly passive and sport,  an active pursuit preferred by the maj...

Today, I read with much concern, the percentage of male teachers in the classroom continues to fall. As an experienced male educator since man first walked on the moon, I believe it is important for both boys and girls to have classroom experience with both genders at some point in their learning journey. That way a balanced view of  men and women as educators is more likely to develop. Increasingly, students can navigate the primary years without spending any sustained time in the presence of a male teacher. Building trusting relationships with students should be viewed as gender neutral matter. It is critical for students to view all their teachers as caring, responsive, resilient and knowledgeable.  Throughout my career as an educator I constantly strived to demonstrate the aforementioned qualities to students. Alongside that I have attempted to show through my actions and words that sport, the arts and literacy are not mutually exclusive passions.  ...

During our professional lives there are moments that are profound and memorable. Last week I had one such experience, when I finally got to spend time in the company of an educator  and writer I have greatly admired for more than a decade. I attended the annual national conference of ALEA (Australian Literacy Educators Association) in Darwin as both a presenter and a willing participant. In 2001 when I first traveled to the US to work as a Literacy Consultant, I became aware of the work being undertaken by Ralph Fletcher. I began to read Ralph’s published works starting with ‘Breathing In, Breathing Out- Keeping A Writer’s notebook.’  My personal library now brims with an extensive list of  Ralph Fletcher titles. There are enough to start the Fletcher Wing. My own professional work has benefited enormously from Ralph’s extensive knowledge as a writer and an educator.  His words, his voice are indelibly etched in my conscious mind when...