7879911 Person vs Self Conflict

I’ve taught writing to third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders now for thirty-six years. I also am lucky enough to work as Co Director for the Indiana University Southeast Writing Project  and spend time with writers that are between 25- 60 years old. It is striking how similar the two groups are in terms of their reluctance to write and writing fears. Luck Calkins, in her book, The Art of Teaching Writing , 1994, pg 153 tells a story I’d like to share:

Yesterday, I brought my four-year-old son to his swimming class, and for the first time I stayed to watch. Evan can’t swim; I knew that so I wondered what would happen. I figured he would hold onto the pool’s edge and kick a little bit. Instead, his teacher dove into the pool and surfaced near the edge where Evan and his friends stood. Then she looked up at my skinny little waif of a son and said,” Okay, Evan, jump. Jump, Evan.” Evan stood, with his toes curled over the edge for a moment, looking down into the deep water. “Jump,” she said, and he did, surfacing a moment later. He looked for her but she was out of reach. “Turn on your back, Evan,” she said. “Turn…,” and he did.

Lucy shares this story with her young writers. Then she continues with the lesson by explaining how the writers in the writing class can support one another.

You and I , as writers, need to have writing teachers that go into the deep waters and who say,” Lucy, jump. Jump!” In the books we are reading we have those teachers. Let’s all of us find, in the books we’re reading, a section we love. Let’s let the author of that section be our writing teacher, calling us to plunge in to do something deeper that we’ve ever done before.

I’m not alone in my classroom. I do not have to know all there is to know about writing to be comfortable. I sit with my walls covered with nearly two thousand trade books that I lean on to show us the way writers can write a lead, create a character, lure a reader into the story and to create tension. These books are my friends. They teach my writes all the possibilities. The call out,” Jump,to each of us.” And we Have-a-go at the new thing we have found.

So, I will stay in the deep in of the pool. I will call out to my writing friends,” Jump, Sandy…jump Elaine,” and I will watch them grow as writers.

All the Places to Love Lesson

7739729 Writing Using the Five Senses

8715831-Mentors

Ray 2

Ralph Fletcher writes in his book, “boy Writers”, about how we are cheating the male population in our writing workshops. Writing test scores indicate that boys have fallen far behind girls across the grades. In general, boys don’t enjoy writing as much as girls. What’s wrong? How can we do a better of job of creating boy-friendly classrooms so their voices can be heard?

In Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices Ralph Fletcher draws upon his years of experience as staff developer, children’s book author, and father of four boys. He also taps the insights from dozens of writing teachers around the US and abroad. Boy Writers asks teachers to imagine the writing classroom from a boy’s perspective, and consider specific steps we might take to create stimulating classrooms for boys.

Topic choice emerges as a crucial issue. The subjects many boys like to write about (war, weapons, outlandish fiction, zany or bathroom humor) often do not get a warm reception from teachers. Ralph argues that we must widen the circle and give boys more choice if we want to engage them as writers. How? We must begin by recognizing boys and the world in which they live. Boy Writers explores important questions such as:

a. What subjects are boy writers passionate about, and what motivates them as writers?
b. Why do boys like to incorporate violence into their stories, and how much should be allowed?
c. Why do we so often misread and misunderstand the humor boys include in their stories?
In addition, the book looks at: how handwriting can hamstring boy writers, and how drawing may help; welcoming boy-friendly writing genres in our classrooms; ways to improve our conferring with boys; and more.

Each chapter begins with a thorough discussion of a topic and ends with a highly practical section titled: What can I do in my classroom? Boy Writers does not advocate promoting the interests of boys at the expense of girls. Rather, it argues that developing sensitivity to the unique facets of boy writers will help teachers better address the needs of all their students.

After many years of teaching the writing workshop I have found there are some key parts that one must have in place in order to provide a successful environment for the young writers.

Mark Mil Liken Pointing