Living Life Twice

The most effective way to teach writing is to be a writer yourself. That way you can better appreciate the challenges and the joys of the craft. As a writing partner, you place yourself in a position of increased credibility. You present yourself as a model of a living, breathing writer. Writers need to be brave, and your decision to become a writing partner, identifies you as a genuine risk taker.  As a writer, you surely deserve a place to record your reactions to the daily events in the world that surrounds you. Developing your own writer’s notebook is the ideal way to demonstrate your commitment to a writing kind of life.  In this special book of your own choosing you are able to show your students how you react to the world; record your thoughts, your wonderings and harvest your ideas.  There might also be lists (names, places), anecdotes and words. Phrases and short descriptions of people, places and events may also be used to trigger a memory for more in dep...

  To prepare for the writing that will emerge during the year we need to teach young writers how to find great ideas for writing  lying  deep inside themselves, before writing about them with focus. We need  young writers to think deeply about what they are writing down. We want them to write about the things that matter most to them, -those things closest to the heart. Encourage young writers to REREAD their initial work efforts to see if they can add more information for their reading audience. Possible Teaching Points Upon Which to Focus: •Writers make lists of important memories, people, places which could become story topics. •Writers often sketch important memories, people, places which could spark an idea for a writing piece. They collect artifacts and ephemera to further stimulate their thinking. •Writers get ideas for writing from reading lots of books.  Books similar in genre/mode to what they are wishing to write. •Writers ...

I must state from the beginning that I have long  held misgivings regarding what passes as publishing (of student writing) in many schools. Like fast food, publishing student writing has evolved into something pretty much standardized.  A one size fits all mentality often applies to the publishing phase of the writing process. Publishing should not be every student publishing their writing at the same time, in exactly the same way. Yes, publishing is time consuming, but it presents a powerful mechanism for motivating students to continue reading and writing. 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, resulting in a pie factory outcome. We should hold fast to the idea that publishing means ‘to make the writing...

Another school year is on the horizon in Australia... To assist teachers launching writing in their classrooms in the early days of the new school year, I offer the following support. Hope you find these ideas helpful in commencing your writing program in 2018. My sincere hope for this year, is for student writers to encounter teachers who are focused on how to write, rather than what to write. In order for this to occur, 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, and sees value in such acts. it will immediately elevate writing in the minds of impressionable, curious learners. I urge you 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 do not hav...

This year represents ten years in existence for this humble little blog- Living Life Twice. It is with equal amounts of surprise and delight that it continues to bubble along. Almost 750 posts have been shared across that time. It all began back in 2008 as an attempt to further support the teachers and students I worked with in schools. I thought of the blog as an efficient way to connect with teachers from different settings, many of whom indicated  similar needs when teaching writing. It continues to motivate many of my writing life thoughts. A further motivation was my own writing experience while in grade 5 many years ago. I did not want today's students to have a similar negative learning experiences with writing. We were not taught how to write. We were mostly told what to write. Our teacher owned the topic and the genre. We were even denied the opportunity to rehearse our writing ideas. The teacher controlled everything. it was our task to respond as best we coul...

Words shape our sense of self and sense of place. As a child, my father regularly engaged me in wordplay. He awoke my awareness of their power and application. As a result, I have always enjoyed words. For many years I have been collecting them in my notebooks and on paper scraps having gleaned them from conversations in which I participated, or merely overheard. I have  scavenged them like buried treasure from readings and research. Some of these words used by extraordinary writers and poets have set my head spinning and my heart singing with joy at their sound and shape and power. There is something quite magical in the way certain words instantly enhance our relationship with people and places. In Charlotte Zolotow's picture book 'The Seashore Book' I met the word 'squaggling' for the first time when the author wrote -'the crabs were squaggling at our feet.' More recently Robert MacFarlane has shared words such as blatter, spangi...

The childhood of my youth has most definitely gone the way of tape recorders, cassette players and similar recording devices. It is either defunct or at best on life support. When sharing childhood experiences with today’s generation of students, I realize that our respective childhood experiences, generally, and in particular with regard to technology, remain worlds apart. There are other difference of course. My generation grew up in small houses with big backyards. The focus of our daily existence was pretty much the world outdoors. We survived all the rough and tumble of childhood sans Google. Many of us enjoyed exceptional latitude when wishing to explore our immediate world. The children I now work with, (and I’m talking in general terms here) find the focus of their lives increasingly turns towards the indoors. The growth of technology in its myriad forms calls them like a siren to remain under cover. X box, computer games, DVD’s win out over an outdoor lifestyle. ...

I always hold mixed feelings about commencing a new notebook. I am quite excited about the prospect of filling the fresh pages and I enthusiastically embrace the challenge. To see my words spread out and over the previously unmarked pages is a buzz for me as a writer.  I’m involved in the act of capturing the raw stuff of my writing life and bringing order to my messy mind. The harvesting of words and ideas adds to the energy of writing in this new place. I am like the farmer who ploughs a new field. I often make a conscious decision to choose a new notebook with different dimensions to its predecessor.  I embrace its unique shape and form. I am keen to shape this new notebook in a way that establishes its difference from previous notebooks. The contents will add further to the individuality. There will be new discoveries.  This time remains a bittersweet moment in my writing life. It is that time when I am faced with saying farewell to a trusted friend. I am s...