Living Life Twice

I have made a point of giving each of my grandchildren a magnifying glass at an early age. I want them to have the opportunity to discover and celebrate natural wonder. I recall how much fun I had as a small boy with my own magnifying glass. –Seeing snails and slugs up close, watching ants and noticing their fine feelers, or exploring nature’s wonders in the fine lines and patterns on leaves and the trunks of trees. Worms, butterflies, slaters all warranted closer inspection. I became a curious learner. I had a fascination for observing the world through this magic portal; this round window.  It is important to foster the natural curiosity every child possesses and this can be further stimulated by the experience of seeing small wonders up close and personal. I have always held the view that the simple gift of a magnifying glass can further stimulate imagination and creativity.  I retain one in the drawer in my study... A magnifying glass is not a piece of cutting edge techno ...

Teaching Kids To Write: Some Beliefs Across more than 50 years as an educator and writer, I have been fortunate to gather much invaluable experience regarding the growth and development of curious, confident writers. May I be so bold as to share a few of my considered thoughts regarding these matters in this post... These things I hold to be true: • Writers need to know their stories. They might have to tell them many times or engage in a lot of thinking before they arrive at the writing. Pre-writing, and rehearsal are therefore critical to improved writing outcomes. •The teaching of writing needs to be seen through a child’s eyes. Are students writing about their view of the world? Can we help them to talk and write richly about their lives and those things that matter? •Writing children do should let us know what it is like to see the world through their eyes and their perspective. •We won’t get honest writing and true voice from writers who are denied CHOICE in both topic and genre....

Writing research data shows children provided with opportunities to write every day begin to compose even when they are not actually writing. In other words, they begin to think about their writing beyond the confines of the classroom. Writing moves away from just being a 'school thing.'  There is immense satisfaction gained from hearing students, who upon entering the classroom first thing in the morning announce, ‘ I know what I’m going to write about today ’ They indicate clearly that they understand the power of writing. They are demonstrating they think as writers do. Unless students have this daily opportunity to write they will not develop the ability to think through their writing. They will not fully understand the process of writing. Donald Greaves suggested that young writers require a minimum of four days per week to write for their own purposes. This, he believed assisted the ‘learning to think’ process to develop. It is therefore important to approach the teaching...

How is interest in writing sparked and then maintained for our students?  This is the enduring challenge all teachers of writing face. Here are a few ideas to ignite a desire to write in your classroom. For teachers of writing it begins with mindfully sharing your own writing. This is where credibility as a teacher of writing is established. A writer’s notebook with a range of text investigations lets students know that you too see yourself as a writer -just like your impressionable young learners! Try engaging students in conversations around your own writing life.- Sharing how you harvest ideas,  how you notice things and how you work to solve problems in your writing. Do not underestimate the power of sharing your writing process with the inexperienced writer. They can draw much in the way of inspiration and potential action from what you put on display.  Such conversations create a powerful dialogue that goes quite some way in demystifying writing, making it suddenly ...

Some Writing  Fundamentals… Some fundamentals beliefs and actions need to be considered when thinking about our teaching practice. It is no less important when we consider how we undertake the teaching of writing. What are our fundamentals? What are our non-negotiables? The role of the teacher in assisting the inexperienced writer to grow assumes paramount importance once we begin to consider what fundamental beliefs surround our pedagogy. It drives how we conduct ourselves in the classroom. It is helpful to revisit what we hold to be true about the essentials of writing. With this in mind, I have revisited my own fundamental beliefs regarding the needs of young writers. This is what emerged: Young writers need to be encouraged to develop and choose their own writing topics, their own ideas and projects. How do they learn to do this important work- by watching and observing how more experienced writers go about the very same process. When young writers choose their own topics ...

    I frequently find myself engaging in wonderful conversations with young writers. It is particularly evident in classrooms where a genuine sense of the writer's agency is apparent. It is the natural consequence of a lot of mindful teaching on the part of those teachers. They display a commitment to building a classroom dynamic that values highly,  student engagement.   These young writers are always keen to share their writer’s notebooks and the various pieces forming across the pages of their notebooks. They display an openness, and a quiet confidence, regarding the direction their writing is taking. Ownership and responsibility are most evident.    In one such Grade 5 classroom a writer informed me her writing concerned  memories of the toys she had when she was younger. She opened her notebook and quickly turned to a page which had a somewhat impressive title emblazoned across the top, - ‘The Headless Barbie.’ She smiled and informed me, '...

This is a lengthy post... I have had requests to publish my recent keynote address from the Beyond The Bell, Literacy Challenge Day in Hamilton, Victoria. This is a slightly abridged version. I therefore ask, -should you choose to use any part of this address, that you duly acknowledge the source. The World of the Visibly Literate Educator 'Thank you for this special opportunity to speak today and share some observations gathered across a teaching life steeped in rich literate experiences. -A life that has nourished my passion and enthusiasm as a lifelong reader and writer and self-confessed, curious learner. The following words of American educator and writer, Regie Routman in her book, ‘Literacy At The Crossroads’ sing to me over and over again.   ‘If we want our students to be thinkers, researchers, collaborators, readers, writers, and evaluators, then they need to see us thinking, researching, collaborating, reading, writing and evaluating. We...