Many of your wonderings seem to be around the idea of creating a piece of writing. What kind of writing piece do you envision that you want to write? What are the possiblities that you see as you begin to practice reading like a writer on your own and with your students? Think about the Seven Stories of your summer. Is there something from there that you can envision as a piece? What kind of piece? A poem? An essay? A short story? An article? What about your work with your reading and writing history as demonstrated to our class? What are the stories that were found in your Bio Book Bags? Each of you had stories for many of your pieces. How can you envision those stories? Remember, that often talking a story through is the beginning of writing that story. This is all a part of the process of writing. I believe we "write" all of the time. When we are driving and thinking about our piece..this is a part of writing.
"Our goal in this teaching was to help the students take the material they had gathered around their seed ideas and read like writers to find possiblities for how they might draft those ideas and write well. We wanted them to be able to envision doing many different kids of texts with a single idea, to know that they didn't have to be limited to just "telling about" their idea in a draft." Katie Wood Ray pp. 52
Let's go beyond "just telling" by envisioning your peice in as many different ways as you can! Have some fun with this!
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Greetings Thomasen and friends
I am still trying to figure out the art of blogging. I can get my self to the site but then I can't quite open it to the correct place. Thanks to Michelle I am here today!I am having a hard time with this because I really haven't envisioned a plan for my final writing piece. I think I'm like some of my students, the assignment seems to broad and I can't quite narrow it down. The reminder of the stages of summer and the bio bags hasn't given me an inspiration yet. Perhaps the late nights with Red Sox fever is clouding my brain. The idea of a short story has my attention.I will try to get motivated..I promise.
Hi all,
I have to agree with Donna that I have no vision. In fact, I'm daunted by my lack of vision. It sure is enlightening to see what we ask our kids to go through every day in picking a topic. However, I think our stakes are higher. We are adults and are much more private about our work and what people think of it. Also, our audience is not just one person, or the pages of my journal. Its not just a teacher or a friend that I might choose. I feel a bit overwhelmed because its a final, concluding piece for a class. I'll get there, but the process of writing and preparing to write is harder than the writing itself is....at least for me. As a teacher other things crowd my time, report cards/conferences/Halloween parties/Native American studies/leadership assignments......
:) Oh the joys of teaching
I haven’t been giving the finally piece as much thought as I probably should be. Maybe it is denial. There is always something more pressing to take up my time. I have tried to think of possible topics. I was thinking…my topic should be interesting, personal, hint of humor and then I think I don’t have any stories that fit my description. My seven stories of summer do not offer topics that I would love to write about. I can see a glimmer of possibilities in my bio bag of memories. I’ll need to explore that a bit more. I have been a little more attentive to the stories that I tell, looking for a good topic to write about. I have even thought about the need for a place to record possible ideas. (I am not suggesting any kind of a journal.) Early in the year, the idea of writing a poem would have been more frighten than a story. However, I have been using poetry in my classroom and have found it surprisingly enjoyable. That doesn’t mean I am ready to write and share a poem in our writing class.
Oh yeah...our final piece. I have to admit that I was hoping we could just all get together and enjoy good food, good drink, and good company. Sounds like we'll need to share some writing as well. I've been thinking a lot about how flexible my students are and how eager they are to try whatever I throw their way. I want to look at my last piece of writing as my students do. I want to feel eagerness, excitement, and confidence to share something that moves me. When deciding on a topic I do feel a bit like Goldilocks. Some topics seems too personal, some too fluffy. I guess I'm still waiting for a topic that's just right.
I finally have envisioned my piece of writing! I, like Gina, need to feel that my topic is just-right before I can even start or else I know I will just be wasting my time writing garbage. However, I did have a Marinelli Moment last week at 3:00 in the morning. I couldn't sleep and all I could think about was using that poem from our last class and writing something similar- something from the point-of-view of a Red Sox fan. I know, it's so predictable for me to write something like that but I am taking a risk writing it as a poem! I jumped out of bed, ran to the study, grabbed a piece of paper and began creating my own "house" with special "rooms". I'm far from done, and I do realize that my audience for this piece is limited to those who root for the Sox (sorry BJ!), but I'm excited to complete it. Only problem is, it's not finished! I'm looking forward to sitting down with some people- Deb maybe you could help with some ideas- and figuring out where to go from here.
hello
ok I have been thinking about what to write about and usually what happens is that I have tons of ideas or none. Then... one idea keeps popping up at times when I cannot write about it- like in the middle of a math lesson or in the shower! At the end of the class I was excited by the idea of writing about myself as a teacher in some form of poetry-maybe the house form? Not sure. I spent 2 years reflecting on my at Lesley and I think I would rather focus on me as a teacher. As I walked down the hall back to my room that night, I consulted with my fly associates as they made their presence known and they agreed that I might be on to something! Now I need to find a way to write in the shower! :)
Envisioning…I definitely know that I want my piece to be poetry and now it is a matter of creating that piece. Like my friends, time is of an essence. I have found it very difficult to get started and stay focused on writing something exciting when my focus has been for another purpose and that is conference notes! Now that I have finally finished them and will finish my conferences on Thursday I can channel my energy to something exciting. I am very excited about my final writing. I know it may not be the perfect poetry piece but at least a step above…Pam and Spam! I don’t think I will ever be able to erase that terrible memory and word choice from my mind.
When I think of poetry I think about my first principal who was an amazing poet. I wish I had more of her pieces to use as a mentor.
After 911 she wrote this poem to capture this horrific time in the eyes of a child:
PATRIOTISM, PEACE, AND LOVE
Through the Eyes of a Child
Pease and love, empowered by all
This great nation will never fall
Questions they ask, these wee small folk
How can a better world we invoke?
Among the ashes and fallen debris
Come sounds of hope for you and me
As darkened smoke from embers rise
Children’s faith, innocence decry
So quickly the answer visibly seen
A letter written with a crayon of green
Pennies and dimes collected to send
To precious children with hearts to mend
The stripes of the flag, red, white and blue
Strips of paper, children made for you
On the table was stretched a banner of white
Heartfelt messages, each child did write
Childlike cutouts, like paper dolls of old
All hands connected, the story unfolds
United we stand, those words that we read
Peace for our nation, we’ve planted the seed
Peace we all crave without our heart
And with our children, will come the start
The dreams of this country in the cradle began
The strength of a child growing into a man
By: Ann Lovvorn
She is an amazing person, educator, mother, grandmother and writer. I envision that one day such words will come to me as I am writing for my own pleasure.
I hope you all enjoy this poem as much as I do.
So...I was just checking to see if there was anything new after our last class and started reading this blog and realized that I had never written to this entry. I'm sure it's too late, but just in case you were interested in my thoughts...
In thinking back to envisioning my piece, I felt a lot like the kids. I had an idea for a topic, and nothing was going to change my mind! I wanted to write about the kids and that was what I was going to do. However, the problem with envisioning my piece was that I didn't have the proper vehicle for it, until I saw that poem. Once I had a mentor text, I was ready to go. It didn't come quite as easily as I would have liked, but still it came. I think of the kids sitting in our classrooms every day, knowing what they want to write about but not sure how to go about it. It was so important that I saw that mentor text and it is just as important that we give our children those same texts.
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