Living Life Twice

My fervent hope for this year, as it is every year, is for student writers to encounter teachers who are focused on teaching the inexperienced writer how to write, rather than what to write.  For this to become a reality, teachers of writing must be prepared to commit to being writers too.  Writing alongside your students sends a vital message regarding the importance of being someone who chooses to write. it immediately elevates writing in the minds of impressionable, curious learners. I urge everyone who is responsible for teaching writing to be bold and brave. Become the risk taker you want your students to be.   I can say this with full confidence;  every teacher possesses the potential to be the most influential writing mentor students will encounter in any school year.  You don’t have to be a published writer to successfully mentor young writers, but you most certainly need to be a teacher who writes. You must be someone who makes time to write. S...

s When the inexperienced student writer chooses to write about topics and ideas that might objectively be viewed as being-lightweight, violent, saccharine sweet or even banal, we must reflect for a moment where these writers draw their inspiration. We tend to write what we know and it is particularly true of our youngest writers.  Despite our very best efforts to expose and influence students in the direction of quality literature and the mindful use of well-chosen mentor texts, (across different genres) we often find ourselves confronting a battle with the strong influence of popular culture and its heady appeal to impressionable young minds. Young learners with limited reading experience often have little else upon which to call.  We therefore encounter see them undervaluing their own ideas; their own lives and experiences as potential for writing. They are more likely to defer to films, video games, television shows and pop music for inspirational uptake.  It is ...

UPDATED: August 2022 How do we assist young writers to narrow the gap between their writing intentions and their actions? This remains an ongoing challenge for all of us who teach writing. Too often, the inexperienced writer signals their intention to commence a writing project yet somewhere along the writing pathway they either get distracted, overwhelmed, or just plain lost. It is claimed, the more we articulate our plans for action, the more likely we are to translate intention into action. This suggests we should be encouraging the developing writer to talk about their writing ideas. They should initially internalize their thoughts regarding writing intentions - think and rehearse before being asked to share with fellow writers. To foster this kind of conversation around writing, it would be prudent to set up opportunities for students to discuss their burgeoning ideas with partners, small groups, trusted peers, teachers.  The young writer could be furthe...

Writing Under The Influence As teachers of writing we frequently gravitate to the words of authors we admire. We then take their observations about the writing process and apply them to our own writing efforts. However, when we find ourselves reading published works- novels, picture books, news articles, or poems the process that has delivered them is largely hidden. We begin to speculate about what has taken place in order for these profound words to appear before our eyes. We begin to search for answers. We want to empower ourselves in order to be able to empower our student writers. We begin to grow our own understandings in order to develop strategies we can teach our students. This is an exciting development in our teaching. When we move in this space, our teaching is full of possibility. The writing moves of writers we hold in high regard begin to inform our teaching.  We start to consider the impact a particular writing move might make for the developm...

One of the great challenges we face as teachers of writing is learning to observe student writing with a view that encompasses instruction. The trick is to look closely at the writing of an individual to notice what that writer needs and at the same time consider other students who may be faced with the same direct need in the development of their writing.  Patterns of need frequently emerge as you confer with your students. When this happens you may find that you need to develop a teaching focus for the whole class, or a small group. It will not surprise you to learn that this is the perpetual challenge of the Writer’s workshop. Once your students are writing regularly and displaying increased stamina and engagement, you may find yourself asking questions – What happens now? What should I do to most effectively move their writing forward? What do I say to them when I join them for a writing conference? It is easy to look at a student’s writing and immediately jump o...

We can help student writers discover the real purpose for their writing by discussing the matter of who we write for. Yes, it is important to establish a sense of audience. Yes, it is important to understand the needs of your readers. However, as Jane Yolen reminds us in her book, ‘Take Joy,’ the only constant in your life is you . As teachers, we must alert student writers that the first audience for their words are themselves. They are the first reader.  As teachers we must demonstrate our understanding of this important fact when sharing our own writing with students.  Whether writing from the perspective of the child you were, or the adult we have become, we initially write to satisfy your own needs.  It is imperative to explain to the less experienced writer how we write about those matters that grab your interest. We write about things we find intriguing, things that make us think.  Teachers sometimes tell students to write about what they kno...

When teachers look closely at the writing students produce; when they understand how writers operate, the forward planning they undertake endeavours to focus on the point of need for each writer.  The instruction that grows from such planning occurs on several levels- whole group, small group and individual. The planning doesn’t limit the young writer’s choice, nor deny them opportunities to add to their growing repertoire of craft strategies. John Hattie’s research has revealed that up to 70% of what teachers ‘present’ to learners, they already know. To avoid such a scenario, planning must aim to build upon prior learning and move the student forward. For this reason alone, examining writing samples and conference notes is critical to effective planning. This is planning that sets high expectation for teaching and learning. Planning that disregards such important considerations often places arbitrary limits on the student writer. When teachers plan using arbitrary o...

It all starts with selecting and sharing powerful texts and simply letting kids enjoy them. Spread the joy of reading great words and what possibilities they spark in the mind of the reader. Reading a text for enjoyment before you move to examining craft increases the likelihood of the text impacting on a student’s writing. When the student knows the text,  it releases their cognitive energy more specifically to that aspect of the text under examination. Think of mentor texts as a term that essentially means –models, exemplars or examples. ‘Mentor texts’ is not something we do within a writing program for its own sake. It is not an entity in itself. It is an integral part of learning how to become a better writer. It requires the ability to read like a writer in order to be able to see the potential in a text to provide a model worth following or adopting. We are looking for writing we want our students to emulate. Our lens must be purpose and craft. So we need t...

The Most Dangerous Part of The Lesson ‘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 going back to our seats to start our writing. There is a danger of being ambushed and directed away from your important mission. Do not let anyone distract you from commencing the writing mission you have just discussed with your writing partner.  You might meet someone on the way back to your seat who may try to strike up a conversation which may lead you off course. Beware of bandits... Who can make it back to their writer’s notebook safely without being drawn away from their mission? Stay alert to the danger. It's all around you.' They all smile knowingly. It’s all a bit of a game, but the truth is I am aiming to narrow the distance between the young writer’s  intentions and actions. I want every writer in the room to have the best possible ch...

UPDATED July 2021 My earliest recollections of writing are wrapped around the weekly writing topics I was given in primary school. We wrote every Thursday afternoon, immediately after the lunch break. It wasn't even called writing. Our teacher referred to it as 'composition time.' We wrote for about twenty minutes in absolute silence in our 'composition' books. At the end of the allotted time, we handed in our written responses, then waited  a whole week to receive feedback for our labored efforts. It consisted of a mark out of ten and a page of red ink comments and slashes across the page. Then we sat and waited for the next teacher topic to be thrown our way.  We wrote one day a week for twenty minutes. It wasn't much of a writing program by today's standards. It wasn't much of a way to learn writing back then either. I'm surprised we learned to write at all on such a starvation diet. I was just lucky enough to be the kind of kid who was driven...

I have spent a lot of classroom time so far this year with our youngest writers. It has sharpened my awareness of how much they have to deal with as they struggle to gain power over print. It’s   a bit like attempting to juggle elephants actually.   At first, their efforts are driven by what they think print represents; using it in ways that make sense to them. They are faced with the challenge of making sense of all those squiggles on the page. It’s like untangling a fishing line. There is so much for the young writer to consider. They must endeavour to control the context, the direction, and the time dimension of the piece. They have to learn to control the writing of the text across a flat surface.   If the paper has lines, that’s a constraint they face as well. They have to quickly work out what writing can do and know the relationship between sound and symbols. They have to quickly become acquainted with twenty six magical shapes and begin to appreciate the...