The more I read the Two Writing Teachers blog the more I fall in love with it. Most recently I read a blog post titled Building a Culture of Bravery in Writing Workshop by Tara Smith, which discussed how being uncomfortable in our writing is good, it pushes us, and it the MEANINGFUL writing (2015). Tara Smith quoted Elisabeth Ellington, my favorite part of the quote was
"Discomfort is necessary if we’re going to grow and develop as writers, and here’s why: the discomfort is really about fear of failure. We aren’t sure that we can pull off what we’re trying to do. But if we aren’t risking failure, we aren’t learning. I can’t get better by doing the thing I already know how to do. At least not if that’s the only thing I do. And so when I’m uncomfortable, I know I’m growing, learning, discovering, developing."
I think this can be applied to anything. I constantly think about pushing myself to the point that I am uncomfortable for my students. I want them to know I am putting myself out there just like I am asking them to do. My writer's notebook is definitely pushing me to do so in my writing but I push myself to be a better snowboarder, try things I am uncomfortable with. I want to take up rocking climbing and that pushes me out of my comfort zone. These are also things I can write about, I can share with my students to show them that I have fears but I am pushing past them.
I also valued Tara Smith's discussion of how she also writes in her notebook where her students can see. Previously I have only seen writers workshop function when the teacher only writes during the mini-lessons. I think it is important to have your own notebook and to write in front of your students as Tara encourages. While I enjoy modeling on chart paper I think in the future I will explore modeling on the document camera in my own notebook.
Chapter 3 of Mentor Text: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6, was my favorite chapter so far. It talked about writing territories which are “treasure chests of their [writers’] hearts and minds where they store precious memories about people, places, events, and objects (Dorfman & Cappelli, 2017, p. 52). We need to help students develop a list of their writing territories. When cultivating these lists we can help students by exposing our students to mentor texts and their inside stories, the writer’s writing territory to really show our students the process of using writing territories. Some of the tools like the heart map I previously knew about but I thought the Inverted Triangle graphic organizer was very useful. I especially like how the author points out you can make a large blank copy and laminate so you can use it to model and students can use it to practice (Dorfman & Cappelli, 2017, p. 55). The information about “the point versus the topic” was super useful. I feel that I struggle with this at times in my own writing so thinking of this passage and using the inverted triangle will help me overcome this challenge. I also have never seen a Hand Map so the “Your Turn Lesson 3” was interesting and easy to apply in my future classroom (Dorfman & Cappelli, 2017, p. 71 & 72).
Currently, I am reading Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. At first, I did not realize this book was the author's young life, I thought it was a fictional character. Once I realized this it gave the book more depth in a way, it held more meaning. The book is a memoir writing in free verse. The pages go by fast as you get caught up in the story. I kept my notebook nearby to write as I found inspiration from the book. This week I read pages 43 - 138. Some specific pieces I found inspiration from and can be a springboard for writing this week were:
-the right way to speak (p. 68 & 69) What are you not allowed to say or do?
-the candy lady (p. 70 & 71) Do you have a 'treat' place?
-how i learn the days of the week (p. 119 & 120) This was my favorite springboard this week because it will allow me to see into my students' lives, to see what they experience every week.
TAKR (Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal) continues to surprise me and keep me on the end of my seat. I have been jotting down random pieces of conversations or thoughts to create my own TAKR type of story. My friends think this is rather funny. I also think mine would not be a 'textbook' divided into subjects rather a book dividing into seasons.
This week I also read Shortcut by Donald Crews. I don't really know what I was expecting when I opened the book but I was not expecting what I read. The author kept repeating "we should have taken the road" so I knew something bad was brewing. When the train finally came I was expecting a terrible event to take place but I was let down. Maybe it is because the events kids read about and the video games they play are intense and scary I was expecting something more dramatic. I felt that is just ended when more could have happened.
References
Dorfman, L. R. & Cappelli, R. (2017). Mentor texts : teaching writing through children’s literature, K-6. Portland, Maine : Stenhouse Publishers.
Smith, Tara. (2015, September 5). Building a culture of bravery in writing workshop. Retrieved from https://twowritingteachers.org/