Living Life Twice

It is the height of summer, although judging by the weather you wouldn’t know it. Still, I did get to the beach early this week. Sun screen, hat, and seated under an umbrella, but I was at the beach. I took essential summer reading, Don Watson’s ‘American Journeys’ Don travelled across much of America in the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina and documents an outsider’s observations of American society. He witnesses the terrible aftermath of the hurricane. He writes about the people he meets and tells in equal portions about the optimism, riches, failures and doubts of America. Having lived there for almost six years, I find his writing makes a strong connection with my own experiences. In between reading and swimming I spent valuable time people watching –and listening. A beach day throws up such a rich tapestry of personality types for one to observe and fertile ideas for the writer within. I note snatches of conversation: Mother: Stop throwing sand! Child: God! Mother: I’m not...

Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought to herself, "This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand. " ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands too...

As teachers of writing we need to learn to read differently. We need to read for meaning as we have all our lives, but we also need to read to see how things are written. Seeing how things are written helps us to know what we need to teach our students about how to be viewed as successful writers. The curriculum resources we need to accomplish this task are waiting for us on our bookshelves, on newsstands, and in bookshops. We need to realize that there are so many writers out there who can provide models of writing for our students. We are not isolated. We are not alone. We have an army of helpers. - When we discover examples of good writing we begin to look more closely at that piece of writing. We start to visualize how it would be if we could teach our students to make the same conscious decisions about the shape of their writing. We begin to closely examine the craft of writing and this hopefully leads us to understanding as to how we can assist our students to more effectively in...

The imminent arrival of the festive season served to remind me of a Christmas Eve many years ago... The room is pitch-black and I am sitting astride a brand, spanking new bicycle. I can feel the prickly sensation of pine needles rubbing against my left leg. It is very early in the morning and I am exploring Santa’s harvest. Suddenly a voice booms out of the darkness and I recognize my father’s words, “Get back to bed, it’s far too early!” The shock of his voice sends me sprawling and I lurch awkwardly towards the Christmas tree. I am trapped in a tangle of tinsel, baubles and pine needles. Wedged between the tree and the bicycle, I am stuck with my face buried in the tree and pine needles up my nose; unsure what to do next. I love the smell of pine needles in the morning... Eventually, I untangle myself and crawl back to bed pulling pine needles from my pajamas as I go. When I awake some hours later, daylight has pulled back the blanket of the night, so I gingerly creep back to the lou...

As we approach the end of the Australian school year, I am aware of the level of exhaustion that abounds in schools, -and the need to tie up a multitude of loose ends prior to school closing for the summer holidays. Teaching becomes a race to the finish line. I am also aware that there is a period of time appearing on the summer horizon when teachers will have some free time to relax and regenerate their energy reserves.- A time for relaxation, holidays, family and recreation. For those of you who have intentions of adopting a new approach to aspects of your teaching in 2009, may I suggest that the summer holidays might present a great opportunity to embrace the inner writer and commence your very own writer’s notebook. I know many of you read extensively when you are on vacation. Free of the pressure of the classroom, it is possible to indulge in more personal reading; becoming re-acquainted with favourite authors, or to read that book you received as a gift. It seems logical to add ...

We ventured out on our bikes on summer evenings generally in that tranquil period between dinner and sunset. It is a peaceful time in summer evenings. The heat of the day is gradually fading. Monbulk, my home town, was in those days a sleepy village. It had an expansive main street occasionally interrupted by shops that gave the appearance that they had been born there. The movement of cars in the main street was rarely constant. Our bike riding on those summer evenings usually followed a set route. We cycled onto Main street via a path that ran beside the town’s tennis court. We then turned left beside the Mechanics Institute Hall and rode along another path that ran beside the school on Main Road. It was at this point that the road inclined towards Hefford’s Milk bar (drug store) situated at the very top of Main Road. It was indeed the last shop in the street. David, my next door neighbor rode his bike along the shoulder of the road; the unsealed section between the bitumen and the g...

I cannot take credit for this idea. It comes from David Morley’s Writing Challenges . But I did see it as a variation on the lift a line strategy that many teachers use. So I have made use of this idea to generate additional writing ideas. I place a phrase into my writing, or I write off the phrase. In that way the lifted line becomes a spark for more writing The idea is that you open a book randomly and place your finger anywhere on one of the pages, without looking. Then select a phrase or a sentence that appeals, or you wish you had written. The selected phrase needs to be near where you place your finger. Transfer the selected words to the top of a new page in your writer’s notebook. Repeat this process using the same book (different pages) or choose different books each time –it depends on your access to books. Here are some lifted phrases I harvested in a short few minutes from my library of books. ‘The sacred moment was turning into an agony’ (Ash Road) ‘A booming voice grunted’...

Writers need to have a keen sense of observation. They need to notice things. Teaching students to be keen observers is not only critical to their writing development, but has implications for developing their world knowledge. A large part of writing is related to close observation of the physical environment in which the writer operates. If we want students to notice their world we must teach into it. After-all, they are a strongly visual generation. Let’s assist them to grow as discriminating viewers. Developing a writer’s keen eye for observation will serve them well. The more we notice, the more we chip away at our individual ignorance Let’s get started: Such observation works best if the observer is not pre-occupied with other matters. Sometimes it requires self talk to refocus the energies on the immediate surrounds. -to observe consciously. Learn to clear the mind first. Ralph Fletcher encourages writers to push beyond the sight of things and look at other less glamorous senses ...

Stop pulling your hair out about the state of student sentence structure. It can be improved by using a range of simple, yet effective strategies. Many of the same techniques used to teach fluency in reading can be used in writing. We need to highlight to students the importance and power of fluency. By exposing them to writing samples that flow easily, they will be more able to recognise good sentence structure and apply this skill to their own writing. By working with students and sharing exemplary literature samples we can highlight such important features as sentence beginnings, sentence length, sentence combining, and run on sentences. Sentence Beginnings: Sample Student Writing 1 I have a bike. It is red. I like to ride it. It is fun. My friend and I like to ride in the forest. It is really cool there. We have a good time. When it is time to go home I have to put my bike in the garage. That is where I keep it *Circle the starting word in each sentence Notice the following The sen...

During my almost six years living in New York, I regularly travelled on the subway system. The experiences provided a rich vein of stories and recollections. I recall among my many trips, one particular occasion at Essex Street subway interchange. I was walking up the stairs when a little girl and her mother approached from the opposite direction. As they descended, I noticed that the girl had her eyes tightly closed. Her mother held the girl’s right hand for support as they managed the steps. At first it appeared the child was sleep walking. Then it occurred to me that she had closed her eyes to experience the sensation of walking down the stairs unsighted. She was experimenting. The fact that she had her mother’s support gave her the confidence to take a step into the unknown. At that moment she became a risk taker- attempting something new and different. This brief scene reminded me of the responsibility a teacher faces each time he or she enters a classroom. Supporting students to ...