Living Life Twice

Some of my recent conversations with teachers regarding publishing have raised the possibility of incorporating digital storytelling into the publishing frame... Somewhat fortuitously, Stenhouse Publishers announce the imminent release of Lisa Miller's book 'Make Me a Story- Teaching Writing Through Digital Storytelling'! So I present the following as something to consider. The writing process and digital storytelling go together naturally. Just as writing can be a process of discovery, so can digital storytelling, where images, words, and music all work together to create meaning. In her new book, Make Me a Story, Lisa Miller describes the power of digital storytelling as a tool for teaching writing and engaging elementary students. She walks teachers step-by-step through the elements of a digital story project, from prewriting and research through putting the story together in the computer using photos, drawings, paintings, video, narration, and music. Readers will also...

Kid blamers exist in most schools. They rationalize the events in their classrooms by informing everyone that certain students are lazy, unmotivated, disengaged. While that may be the individual's perception, the critical question that begs answering is ‘why?’ If a student appears reluctant to write, to read, to participate in general classroom activities- that needs to be explored. It may be an issue external to the classroom, It may also be an issue related to the classroom or teaching style. Either way, to simply blame the student falls well short of professional responsibility. This issue of output failure is explored in “The Myth of Laziness by Mel Levine. Levine argues the desire to be productive is universal but that drive can be frustrated by dysfunction that inhibits optimal output or productivity. Levine explains that difficulties associated with writing are far and away the most telling sign of output failure during childhood and teenage years. Output failure re...

  I have to state from the beginning that I am greatly concerned by what has happened to the publishing of student writing in many schools. Like fast food it has become standardized. A one size fits all mentality often applies to the publishing phase of the writing process. Yes, it is time consuming, but publishing presents a powerful mechanism for motivating students to continue reading and writing. Publishing should not be every student publishing their writing at the same time in exactly the same way. Publishing should allow students a strong sense of ownership over a host of decisions regarding the shape and form of the final product of their writing efforts. I think that for some teachers 'publishing' becomes a beast that needs to be controlled. This need to control is what ultimately stifles creativity and results in a pie factory outcome. Lets get back to giving our writers some options and a sense of ownership about publishing. Running concurrently with these options w...

It represents a major breakthrough in the development of the student writer when they become conscious of rehearsing their writing ideas. As a classroom teacher it was cause for celebration when students entered the classroom some mornings and announced ‘I know what I’m going to write about today’ It was music to my ears to hear those words. It was telling me that they were conscious of their writing intentions well before the act of writing. They were rehearsing their writing ideas. These young writers were taking their writing beyond the four walls of the classroom and engaging in preparation and thinking about the writing that would eventually emerge on the blank page. I fully understand how important rehearsal is to the writer. I find myself continually in the grip of word storms. They bounce around in my head. Phrases and ideas form and reform continually as I go about this critical pre-writing phase. I am getting ready to write. I am sorting ideas. I am sounding myself out. How d...

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The following post comes from Ruth Ayres of Two Writing Teachers who posed the question- What Goes In A Writer's Notebook? I was so impressed with the message that I wanted to share it with you... Ruth writes: 'One of the things which took me a few years to really understand is what goes in a writer’s notebook. It was one of those thinking journeys which twisted and turned through many ideas, brainstorms, trials, and errors and eventually emerged on the other side with a basic understanding that seems simplistic. Everything I put in my writer’s notebook is for me as a writer. When I’m ready to write for an audience, it goes outside of my writer’s notebook, on draft paper or in a Word document. I teach this to students as well. When collecting ideas, ephemera, revision attempts to become a stronger writer, it goes in the writer’s notebook. When writing for an audience, it goes outside of the notebook. Now there are sometimes shady lines about what should go in a notebook...

You would have to asleep on the job not to have read about the ‘reading –writing connection’ and how one aspect of literacy feeds the other. We know they co-exist in an effective literacy program. We also know how important it is to choose good quality literature for children to read. Such literature plays such a strong role in improving the quality of student writing. The writing workshop is the perfect opportunity for teachers to share their knowledge of children’s literature. It’s a chance to share the author’s deliberate use of craft- leads, endings, voice, style, vocabulary, format, sentence structure, vivid verbs and accurate adjectives. If you are attending to such aspects of the writer’s craft by reading and noting the author’s attention to such fine details, you are teaching so much about writing! To do this we need to create time to read the available literature. This enables us to make informed choices about the texts we bring to the classroom- the authors with whom we sha...

Today is a great day for some reflection. For today marks the end of a journey. -A journey that commenced exactly a month ago with my involvement in the Slice of Story Challenge for March. This writing challenge was concieved and set up by Stacey Shubitz and Ruth Ayres from Two Writing Teachers  and it is to these writers and educators, I am indebted. It is said that it is the journey not the destination that is important, and there is ample evidence that is indeed true. While taking part in this challenge I have made discoveries, for part of this journey has involved exploring self. I have also been able to learn of common incidents in their real state by reading the words of fellow writers. These incidents have allowed me to contemplate and connect, despite our geographical differences. I have gained a better appreciation of the happiness that resides in the present moment. When we learn to do this we stop borrowing from the bank of future hope. I have also made discoveries, -w...

Today I flew to Brisbane for a few days of relaxation at Broadbeach on Queensland’s Gold Coast. My frequent flyer points made this flight cost free. However, it was a no frills flight and the only item they didn’t charge customers for was the air we breathed. Broadbeach is slightly south of Surfer’s Paradise and is a destination favoured by snowbirds. It is some time since I was last here and development continues to leave its indelible mark on this coastal Mecca. This area is Australia’s Florida. The people of the Australia southern states flock here, particularly in the winter months, when the local population swells. It is currently school holiday time and children are everywhere in profuse numbers. The air here is warm and heavy. Dense cumulonimbus clouds blanket the sky and one senses rain is never far away. A sense of languidness pervades the action of people out and about on the streets. The pace is suitably slow. You feel your shoulders relaxing.... I find airports fascinatin...

It rained heavily overnight. Following successive seasons of below average rain, we now appear to be moving into a period of increased rainfall. Autumn has arrived with a series of resounding downpours. The creek below our house is running a gusher this morning. It is almost bursting its banks such is the rush of water down its course. Most of the year its maintains a low steady flow as it meanders around rocks on its way to Port Philip Bay less than a kilometre away. Ducks and wading birds such as egret occasionally drop in for a splash and a feed. Water weeds thrive in the warm shallow water along the banks during the summer months. Butterflies flitter about seeking out the butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii) I planted near the creek's edge. . Today the character of the creek is dramatically altered. It is ferocious and irrepressible. No wading today. The torrent races by our place along the valley of the creek with such impressive momentum. The birds seem impressed by the rain...