Living Life Twice

  Here are five of the most popular  Living Life Twice  posts for 2025. Thank you for your continuing support and interest in teaching writing and all it involves. Here's a chance to reconnect with writing ideas. Ideas you can easily carry forward into 2026.  Just click the blue links to discover more... Developing Personal Writing Projects In this post I wanted to challenge the long held practice that the first logical action after identifying a writing project is to always immediately start drafting. For generations schools have reinforced this approach. It does the young writer a disservice. It does teachers and learning outcomes a disservice too. Creating Opportunities For Kids To Publish A recent question from a teacher prompted me to think more deeply about  publishing student writing . She was searching for professional reading that dealt more deeply with the  publishing  phase of the writing process. My own search revealed that many of the avai...

A student once asked me an interesting question  during a share time ‘What was writing like, when you were in Grade 5?’ Well, it was actually like this… Writing Time With Miss Dungeon In Grade 5 Our teacher Miss Dungeon Would ask us to write She called it- Composition She gave each of us a book A book she called A composition book Every Thursday Straight after lunch Was composition time We all knew this because Miss Dungeon Would stand in front of the class And using her very loud voice That made the windows rattle Announce OPEN YOUR COMPOSITION BOOKS With pencils poised We would sit silently Waiting Waiting Anticipating Until Miss Dungeon Standing at the front of the room Giant like on a raised platform Looked over her spectacles and announced the weekly writing topic- Autobiography of an Ant START WRITING NOW No smile No Frown START WRITING NOW… A few kids began writing Some stared out the window Some froze at their desks And the rest of us stared at the blank white page of our c...

  Reflecting upon our writing lives, is a form of metacognition. We look back in order to discover. We may uncover truths. We may discover we are unconsciously skilled. We may also discover the need to redirect our energies, unpacking important details or revelations to guide our writing lives forward. Reflecting reveals signposts essential to writing development. As teachers of writing, it is vital that we encourage the growth of these same understandings with student writers. We must assist them to develop an  awareness of their own learning. Through mindful teaching, the inexperienced writer can be encouraged to to think and operate independently. In our day to day teaching we strive to assist the developing writer to be more aware of their thought processes. Attaining such a level of awareness will help them immeasurably as learners and in that process they become better writers. If we, as teachers encourage student writers to use reflection as a thinking tool, as well as ...

Talk is an integral part of learning, and no less so within the writing workshop. The legendary writing researcher, writer and educator, Donald Graves, regularly encouraged young writers to think aloud and articulate their writing intentions. He wanted young writers to give voice to the intended direction of their, soon to emerge, writing. In some classrooms though, talk has unintended consequences. Because talk is not used strategically, it becomes an impediment to the flow of writing. For talk to play a supportive role in the writing process, it must be harnessed.  Talk has a great contribution to make during pre-writing. It can contribute to the sparking of potential writing idea. Equally, it can also assist the writer to clarify the direction they wish to take with their writing. It can used to reflect and review writing pieces already under construction.  It is said, the more we articulate our intentions, the more likely we are to actually pursue them. So, providing oppor...

   My involvement in presenting the Young Writer's Program in conjunction with P.E.T.A.A. (Primary English Teacher's Association of Australia) and the Victorian Government over the last two years has enabled me to share a range of writing ideas to support the continuing development of enthusiastic young writers.       These student writers have demonstrated an aptitude and interest in writing and have participated with much enthusiasm in these two day workshops.       For more information regarding this program, contact PETAA.    *  Many of the recurring messages shared with these young writers are applicable to all writers, so I happily share them now: You need a good pen or pencil with you at all times. It should feel balanced and comfortable in your hand when you write.  It is an advantage to carry a writer's notebook at all times. A notebook that suits your particular needs as a writer. A notebook that is not just...

The late, great Donald Graves reminded us in his 1983 book, Writing: Teachers & Children at Work' -  'Good teachers show what they mean instead of telling.' Katie Wood Ray in her 1999 book 'Wondrous Words' urged teachers to model writing work habits so students would come to see themselves as authentic writers. She further pointed out-  'Either we can be walking breathing, talking examples of all we advocate for our students, or we can have them sitting around wondering why are trying to get them into something that we are obviously not into ourselves.' These notions challenge the traditional and often dominant paradigm in many schools that writing is to prove to others what has been learned. In reality writing needs to be about discovery leading to reflection of learning. Writing is the  physical representation of all the thinking acquired. It arises from being deeply immersed in the processes of writing. When young writers are mindfully encouraged to t...

I launched this blog way back in 2008, not knowing where it would actually go. Naturally, I wanted it to provide support for teachers of writing, but it has also served to provide additional meaning and reflection around my own writing life.  I am most pleased that it has continued to fulfill its original aim.  As I write I am aware that close to one thousand posts have been published since I began back in 2008. In this particular post I am humbly sharing some thoughts and understandings gathered along this writing and learning journey I am on. These things I now know to be true about teaching children to become engaged writers… •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 success. •The teaching of writing needs to be seen through a child’s eyes. Are students writing about their view of the world? Can we ...