Becoming a Writer

I had the opportunity to attend a 2-week summer workshop offered by the Illinois Writing Project called IWP-SLI (Illinois Writing Project, Summer Leadership Institute) in July 2014. It was life changing for me as a person and a writer.

The first week consisted of exploring ourselves and our teaching styles through the writing process. We spent the afternoons that first week just writing and sharing. It was powerful. I went home energized, but exhausted everyday. I had so many ideas, I couldn't write fast enough. I then decided I needed to use my laptop to keep up with the abundance of ideas. I had never viewed myself as a creative writer before. But after this workshop, I started to.

In my blog post, Building Confidence in Writing, I shared a piece I had written during the first week. We were to pick a place that was a favorite of our to visit. I chose a store called Cracker Jax. The words flowed out. We were not necessarily to go back and edit, we were just letting our thoughts flow as we thought about this place. That piece is an unedited piece. Would I change it? Maybe, maybe not. The point I'm trying to make is that, as writers, we have to be allowed to write without having the conventions weigh heavily on our minds. That comes later. Should we teach students to edit? Absolutely. However, getting the ideas down first is priority. Using the IWP-SLI as a guide, this is how I structure this lesson with my students:

1st Day

• Choose a topic (teacher or students depending on your goal for this assignment. I will choose the topic "Close to Home" that was suggested during IWP-SLI.)
• Free write--give a time limit of about 20 minutes. Too much time can be frustrating for students, and too little can hinder a student's creativity--especially if s/he needs time to come up with a topic (if you haven't assigned one).
• Share your written piece. I like this part for a couple of reasons: 1. It allows the student the freedom to present the written piece how s/he intended it to be shared. 2. Most importantly, the teacher or the other students are not looking at the writing. They are LISTENING. This is just as important a skill as the writing itself.

2nd Day

• Have the students get into small groups to allow brainstorming ideas to continue the writing. This is where the cheer-leading happens. The students need to know what they did right.
• Go back and re-work the piece or choose another piece of writing to edit. It is OK to have a number of stories at a time to work on. I had read once that Stephen King has many started manuscripts that he leaves until he is ready to revisit the piece. Sometimes I think the draft needs to marinate before we can actually give it the oomph it needs.
• When students feel that they have reworked the writing to almost the publishing point, conference with the students in a one-on-one session which will happen day 3.

3rd Day

• Allow the students to either start a new writing topic or revisit an older one to begin to rework.
• While your students are doing that, choose one student at a time and set a time limit with each. Try to structure your time efficiently so that you can get quick, but quality time with each student.
• When the students approach your desk, ask the students what their favorite part was of the writing process.
• Ask them what they need guidance on--they may have writer's block.
• And most importantly, as far as I'm concerned, ask the students what they want you to look at in their writing. These are the choices I give:
• Spelling
• Punctuation/Capitalization
• Subject/verb agreement
• How to proceed to the next step
• Many kids will say, "Check all of it." It is important for them to become comfortable spotting areas they need help on. That way, they will become better editors themselves. 
• If we give too much feedback, it becomes overwhelming, and the process is no longer fun.

Remember, this map to writing needs to feel safe for all students. We all are at different levels in our writing. I have been told throughout the years that my writing at times has not been up to par. I allowed those comments to stifle my creativity. I write like no one else. I write like me. We have to allow our students to do the same.

Start Write Here

So where to begin...I have so many thoughts on writing, I want to begin everywhere at once, but logistically I can't, so I'll just begin writing. A strange way to start my blog? For me, no. It's perfectly imperfect. That's what writing is: perfectly imperfect. When we write, we have to start somewhere. Isn't that what we tell our students--just write? We tell them to just write to get the ideas flowing. But to students, many of whom are afraid of writing, this seems daunting. "How am I supposed to know what to write? You haven't given me a prompt!" Teachers, you have all heard this before, and at times (be honest) it's frustrating to hear that day in and day out when you start a writing assignment. You've all heard the groans; I know I have. But what if writing were something that your students really enjoyed? Something they really looked forward to. What would that even look like. Well, for years I've started writing this way: free writing.

Students get out their journals (you, too) and start writing the thoughts that pop into your head. Maybe it might go something like this:

  I don't know what to write, I don't know what to write, I don't know what to write...Mom wants me to call her after school today. Friday is pizza day, the best day of the week--I love that Aquabats song. Yeah, tonight we are having leftover mock lasagna. My rings are dirty. I just cleaned them! Argghhh! All that lotion. That's why I take my rings off at night, but this morning I forgot, and the lotion got smeared over them. Hopefully no one notices. PARCC testing today...schedule messed up, kids anxious to be done...

What did you notice? Hopefully, a string of consciousness. Maybe you noticed fragments. THAT'S OK!!! I just decided to write, and there you have it.

Next I read my entry to my students. They love the silly thoughts. And if they are comfortable, have them share, too. Kids love when adults are silly, even child-like on occasion.

Here's what I've noticed when I do this activity: Students love this! In fact, at times it is difficult for them to want to write anything else. But I adapt slowly. Next I might ask them to free write about a book they are reading. Watch how this happens.

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett: My youngest son is reading Chasing Vermeer. He was frustrated about this since it's a sixth grade book, lexile 770L.He over-analyzes things and doesn't just breathe and read. I started reading it. Cool entries, exciting codes, still not finished. My son had a seizure and when he came out of it we talked about Chasing Vermeer and I told him I solved the code. He remembered the next day! Normally he doesn't remember anything after his seizures, but this time he did...

OK, what happened here? What did you notice? Was it grammatically correct always? Did I stray from the topic? Who cares! I just used free writing and narrowed the topic as it pertains to me. It helps to do this when you are trying to understand a plot or sequence of events, etc...I just use this as a launching point for more structured ideas.

It doesn't matter what age. What about preschool? Remember pictures? Have students draw pictures and talk about them when they are done. Telling about what we are putting on paper is the precursor to writing. I remember my oldest son sitting at the table scribbling and putting dots all over his paper. When he was finished he would tell me what it said. I loved it. He was using the adult models in his life to demonstrate his understanding about writing. What about beginning writers? Inventive spelling is so important. Ideas about this have changed over the years, but we absolutely need to allow kids to feel comfortable with writing. I would like to spend time on talking about building confidence in writers in another blog post.

So I will sign off by saying, Start "write" here with your students. It's never too late in the year to start over. Every time we are putting our words on paper, we are starting again and again. Now go write!