I LOVED reading all of your stories and comments and thoughts about who you are as readers and writers. I have learned so much about you and as some of you commented, there was this sense of connection amongst us all that brings us together in terms of our histories or where we are currently.
This week I am going to ask you to think about just words. So, what are words to you? What are some of your favorite words? What is your relationship with words? One of my favorite words is succulent. I love the way it sounds just like what it is. It brings a strong image to my mind and it almost makes my mouth water. My relationship with words is very volatile as words are my greatest pleasure and my worst nightmare. Have you ever found yourself in that position where you want to say something, but just can't find the right words? I hate that!! I have posted a photo of a perfect summer evening because as many times as I have tried to capture this moment in words, it falls completely flat. Why is it that words cannot do this moment justice? Or is it that I just have not found the right words? Of course, without words we would be lost, and I wish I could say that I am always learning new words, but the truth is that I am not. I almost feel embarrassed when someone uses a word that I am not familiar with. I always feel that I "should" know what it means. And as I sneak away to my dictionary on the sly to find it, I realize that it often is not a word I would want anyway. Other times that is not the case and I work to meld it into my everyday thoughts. So, what are words to you? Do you think about words and how you say things to others? Do you find your plethora (great word meaning overabundance ) of words to be adequate or are you searching for something more? Do you celebrate words in your classrooms with your students? Tell us all about YOUR relationship with words!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Beginning Thoughts.....
Hello Everyone and Welcome!
Here is our own place to write, reflect, chat, and think about our teaching and how who we are impacts who we are as teachers. Thank you all for being so brave as to try this out with me! I am so excited to see what this brings in terms of continuing our conversations outside of class! I will post something once a week and would ask that you respond once a week as well.
I chose this name as a metaphor for us to write and follow our thoughts as they wind around, take side trips, overflow, dry up, are replenished again and flow into the sea of literacy! How was that for profound?
This week I am thinking about who I am as a writer and a reader. Where did I come from in terms of my own literacy? What is my history as a reader and a writer?
I was not a reader when I was little. My sister was not only the avid reader of the ENTIRE Nancy Drew set, but also quickly followed in my father and my grandfather's footsteps as the writer of the family! As the second child, well, let's just say there was no way to compete. She was already publishing stories as Christmas presents for the family before I was even beginning to write in cursive! I went through much of my childhood not understanding what I read, although I did get all A's on every report card. I was your classic word caller who loved phonics because I could and did read with great inflection and expression. The only problem is that I never actually thought about what I was reading!!
In terms of writing, again, coming from a long line of writers I was intimidated and when I finally did write something I recieved so much praise that it was embarrassing. Shameful too because along with that praise was the dark secret that I had stolen the idea from a wordless picture book! I wrote the reverse story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears where the bears do all the visiting. My Grandfather was SO enamoured with my story he HAD to talk about it every time we saw him. Little did he know that each time he talked about this I was sure someone was going to discover that the idea had not been mine at all!! If I only knew then what I knew now. All writers get their ideas from somewhere! Katie Wood Ray recommends that we should all write with a stack of our favorite writing mentors on our desk next to us to remind us what good writers do!! It was a very long time before I wrote again, and nobody ever did discover me...either that or they just never told me!!
So who are you as a reader? A writer? What are some stories or thoughts about your reading and writing history? What has shaped you into the literate person that YOU are today?
Here is our own place to write, reflect, chat, and think about our teaching and how who we are impacts who we are as teachers. Thank you all for being so brave as to try this out with me! I am so excited to see what this brings in terms of continuing our conversations outside of class! I will post something once a week and would ask that you respond once a week as well.
I chose this name as a metaphor for us to write and follow our thoughts as they wind around, take side trips, overflow, dry up, are replenished again and flow into the sea of literacy! How was that for profound?
This week I am thinking about who I am as a writer and a reader. Where did I come from in terms of my own literacy? What is my history as a reader and a writer?
I was not a reader when I was little. My sister was not only the avid reader of the ENTIRE Nancy Drew set, but also quickly followed in my father and my grandfather's footsteps as the writer of the family! As the second child, well, let's just say there was no way to compete. She was already publishing stories as Christmas presents for the family before I was even beginning to write in cursive! I went through much of my childhood not understanding what I read, although I did get all A's on every report card. I was your classic word caller who loved phonics because I could and did read with great inflection and expression. The only problem is that I never actually thought about what I was reading!!
In terms of writing, again, coming from a long line of writers I was intimidated and when I finally did write something I recieved so much praise that it was embarrassing. Shameful too because along with that praise was the dark secret that I had stolen the idea from a wordless picture book! I wrote the reverse story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears where the bears do all the visiting. My Grandfather was SO enamoured with my story he HAD to talk about it every time we saw him. Little did he know that each time he talked about this I was sure someone was going to discover that the idea had not been mine at all!! If I only knew then what I knew now. All writers get their ideas from somewhere! Katie Wood Ray recommends that we should all write with a stack of our favorite writing mentors on our desk next to us to remind us what good writers do!! It was a very long time before I wrote again, and nobody ever did discover me...either that or they just never told me!!
So who are you as a reader? A writer? What are some stories or thoughts about your reading and writing history? What has shaped you into the literate person that YOU are today?
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