"Writing comes from who we are; modeling must begin with sharing ourselves and what interests us ... Let them see who we are first, and how that translates into what we write" --- Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6
As a writer, it is always hard to put yourself out there. As a writer who is a student, it is sometimes even harder when your writing is constantly being critiqued and criticized. As a writer who is a teacher, it can be scary when writing in front of students because you think your writing models aren't good enough.
According to Dorfman's and Cappelli 's Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6 (2017), by "writing for ourselves and for our students will help improve our own confidence, competence, and self-esteem...We improve in writing because we write" (13). Confident writers are developed through daily practice. However, for this growth to occur, teachers must facilitate a space for students where they can react, experiment, and live the writing life (Fletcher, 2001). As a teacher myself, I want my students to be confident in their writing and to become part of a community where they can express themselves and develop their voices as writers. In Fletcher's (2001) published article The Writer's Notebook, he suggests that a writer's notebook could provide such conditions that are necessary for students to grow into strong writers (2). Furthermore, he adds that students who keep a writer's notebook are more likely be 'active learners' and feel like they have a 'safe space' -- where there are no grades, no one is correcting their grammar.
In school, I found it hard to be a successful writer because my writing was always under the microscope. Being marked, graded, and critiqued with little constructive feedback. Through this harsh process, my confidence in my writing, as well as my identity as a writer started to disappear. However, slowly I have began to build back up my confidence as a writer through journaling. By having a space where I can write freely and without the harsh critique of others -- it helped me to enjoy the writing process again. Now, as a future educator, I believe the writer's notebook could be key in unlocking a student's inner writer by giving them a space to find their voice.
In introducing this 'new' tool of using a writer's notebook in the classroom, Fletcher also provides teachers with some prompts that they can use to encourage their students to write and to develop fluency as writers. Some of these writing strategies include:
Three by Three: List three-word phrases for three minutes. Students may select a single word to designate the subject.
Write about your name: Who are you named after? A name you where almost given? Nicknames? How do you feel about your name?
Describe Your World: A writer's eye takes in the surroundings with keen perception. Learning to 'see' means stretching to use all five senses. Pick a place in your school, at home, outside. Don't just describe what you see, but also include the sounds, smells, and feel of the place.
As a teacher writer, I am currently collecting ideas by reading different works from other writers and one book that I am currently reading is Amy Krouse Rosenthal's (2017) Textbook. I think is a must read for ALL writers because it really captures the essence of what the writing process actually looks like which is raw, real, and memorable. One of my favorite quotes from this book that I have read so far is:
"It takes a snowflake two hours to fall from cloud to earth. Can't you just see it's slow, peaceful descent?" -- Textbook (2017) pg. 47
Considering about this quote, it makes me want to write about all of the fun memories that I had as a child while playing in the snow. One of my most craziest memory with snow was when I went sledding on a retreat with my youth group. The crazy part is that we decided to go sledding at night. Now, I know what you must be thinking. Why would they go sledding at night when they couldn't see anything? Well lets just say that we did use flash lights to make sure that we didn't run into anything or anyone for that matter. One of the first hills that we sledded down was HUGE and there where bushes and tree on both sides of the hill making it a pretty straight shot going down. However, at the bottom of this hill there were train tracks, so to make sure no one went that far down we had two people with flash lights go down the hill to the point where we were suppose to stop before the tracks. At the time, we had more people than sleds, so I ended up sharing a sled with two other girls. When it was our turn to go down the hill, I sat in the front of the sled with the other girls in front of me. One guy come behind us and gave us a push to help us get enough speed make it down the hill. As we started our journey downward, I noticed that we were picking up speed really fast, and I mean, REALLY FAST. So fast that we past the point where we were suppose to stop before the tracks. We could hear the guys yelling at us to STOP! Being in the front of the sled me initial reaction was to put my feet down to try to stop us. As soon as I did, my ankle got caught on a root and it sent all of us flying through the air. I landed face first in the snow and I could feel my ankle throbbing. I knew that I may have just broke my ankle. Luckily, some of the guys came down the hill and helped me and other girls to get back to the cabin. The whole experience was quite an adventure and one that I will never forget.
For my writers, please feel free to comment and share your favorite memory with snow?
References
Dorfman, L. R., Cappelli, R., & Hoyt, L. (2017). Mentor texts: teaching writing through childrens literature, k-6(2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Fletcher, R. (2001). "The Writer's Notebook." The National Council of Teachers of English, 6(4), 2–7.
Rosenthal, A. K. (2016). Textbook. New York, NY: Penguin Random House.