Living Life Twice

  A s far back as 1976 the legendary Donald Graves was writing and railing against what he called the ‘Writing Welfare System’ where student writers become dependent on their teachers. G raves   strongly opposed teaching of writing where the teacher controlled all phases of the process and consequently controlled the writer’s voice. I t concerned Graves that student writers felt an implied pressure to make their voices the same as their teachers. All authority for the writing rested with the teacher. In such circumstances  Graves  observed, the student writer relies entirely on the teacher’s decisions regarding: The need to write When to write What to write To whom they should write How to write How the writing should be judged   G raves  noted that teachers were seldom aware when they were encouraging thinking that closely matched their own. They were unwittingly extinguishing divergent thinking and originality. I n such circumstances the student writer ha...

  As inexperienced writers, students  frequently need extra guidance to develop that essential momentum and confidence necessary for successful writing. They are learning to trust their teacher, their surroundings, and their classmates. They are learning to trust their own ideas and make decisions about their writing intentions. There is a lot with which to contend. It takes time to adapt to  routines and expectations  What does this teacher expect of me as a curious learner?   How do we as teachers assist students to gain trust and develop momentum as writers? it requires an approach that employs a gentle leading forward. A supportive educator who offers a guiding hand and beckons the inexperienced writer to join them in the learning journey. A journey of discovery. A journey aimed at increasing ownership across time.  Used appropriately, Writer’s notebooks allow developing writers to make stronger connections to their immediate world . The harvesting...

Some years ago while conducting a writing workshop demonstration, with a group of Grade 4 writers a young writer suddenly burst out in the middle of the 'tuning in' phase of the lesson, 'Wow, I just realized there's a hole in our laundry wall and its been there for about three years and I don't know how it got there!'  There was a pause, then laughter slowly bubbled up within the group.  The writer apologized for her unannounced declaration, so I asked, Why do you think that memory suddenly came up like that? What sparked it? She wasn't sure what had summoned up the hole in the wall right at that point in our lesson. I urged her to continue thinking and maybe consider it as a writing prompt in the hope the memory recall might lead to something more substantial. Sometimes our recollections are prompted by a word trigger. A connection is made and the mind kicks into overdrive in dredging up the memory -be it false, accurate or incomplete. Such spontaneity is c...

  Revision is a phase of the writing process frequently ignored and commonly misunderstood. Because it is misunderstood, it is often afforded scant attention –glossed over. Yet,   it is in the revision phase that the writer has the greatest opportunity to lift the quality of the writing.   It is a chance to polish those raw words. Too often when inexperienced writers revise a writing piece, it simply involves changing the surface features of the writing- spelling and some rudimentary grammar. Sadly, the content may remain unaffected by the visit. The notion of adding, changing, deleting and reordering the language fails to impact the overall quality of the writing. A great opportunity to upscale the writing goes begging. The writing process is one of problem solving. Writing is recognized as a cognitive exercise. Therefore the ability to revise is significant for every single writer. It assists the writer to more clearly assess their own words, clarify thoughts and i...

  Under the present lockdown rules in the greater Melbourne area, we, the people are allowed two one hour recreation/exercise times beyond our dwellings. Such activities must occur within a five kilometre radius of your home address. Face masks are mandatory.  No problem. I take my walk early most days to avoid the inevitable casual wanderers and path cloggers. I like a vigorous walk. I use the time to clear my head, sort out my plans for the day and to observe the world just in case an idea presents itself. I want to be ready to receive it. I am further soothed by my sonic cocoon. Music and movement set me on my way. Most of my morning walks present as a form of splendid isolation, where not much in the way of uneventful things happen... That was until yesterday- About thirty minutes into my walk serenity began to evaporate. Without warning I found myself being dive-bombed by an agitated Noisy Myna Bird. Being dived once is annoying. Three times is totally unsettling. I was g...

My latest piece about teaching writing across the middle years of schooling and how the pedagogy commonly driving teaching contributes to disengagement on the part of adolescent writers, particularly boys. A failure to thrive is driven by a quite obvious lack of agency.  Please click the link to read more courtesy of The Age Newspaper: How To Give Boys The Write Stuff

For this slice of life story I didn't have to look any further than my left hand. I was holding the idea right there -and my deeper thoughts followed. In my current lockdown life, such thoughts are thankfully continuing to present themselves for consideration. Contemplation in isolation. I am pen particular.   My pen of choice is a   Uniball Gel Impact   pen with black ink. Always black ink. Must be black ink.    It is the pen I mostly choose when writing. It feels comfortable in my hand. When I am writing with this pen, words seem to flow more easily. They effortlessly spill across the page. I actually feel like I am speed writing. Being left handed, this continues to be my most glorious delusion. I also have a Lamy fountain pen which also uses black ink cartridges. I do like writing with this pen too. It has become accustomed to my left handedness. I would never a let a right hander use it. Call me fussy. It won’t change my thinking on pen sharing. Not for me ...

When times are tough we often gain some degree of pleasure from indulging in seemingly small pleasures...  As my home state of Victoria endures another week of stage 4 Covid lockdown, mask wearing is compulsory in public areas and you can only leave your home for work, food shopping. a medical appointment / emergency, or care giving, it means we must find solace is things pertaining to our place of residence and its surrounds. There is also a curfew in place, meaning we must be inside our dwellings by 8.00 pm each night. We are allowed to leave our houses for up to an hour per day for exercise, but we must remain within five kms of home at all times. The situation will be reviewed on September 13 and if the numbers warrant, there will be some small loosening of the health guidelines. I am happy to comply with this because it is clearly for the greater good of the community. The daily infection rate has fallen from a daily high of 700, to 70 cases today. The majority of my fellow Vi...

Everytime we enter the classroom it is incumbent on each of us to bring all that we have garnered about reading and writing and mindfully apply this invaluable knowledge to our teaching of writing. We are never alone in our teaching if we apply this thinking. Ask yourself- what have I seen other writers doing that might assist the writer's I'm teaching? As teachers of writing we need to gather around us lots of authors we trust and respect. Authors who are available to assist in the important task of developing the confidence and competence of young writers. When we allow these trusted authors to become our co teachers, it affords students the opportunity to more readily acquire the craft of writing. We are mindfully exposing the inexperienced writer to rich literary models. How good is that? We must take every opportunity to encourage students to investigate specific aspects surrounding the work of these mentors. In our daily teaching it is important to encourage the imitation...