For the Love of Writing

I teach my students that good writers write and they write and they write. But as an adult, outside of my classroom, the only writing I was doing came in the form of to-do lists and grad papers. Lots and lots and lots of to-do lists, and lots and lots of grad papers, but to-do lists and grad papers none the less. I'm pretty sure this is not what Lucy Calkins had in mind when she told teachers to write vastly.

But who has the time?

Since I was a student teacher I have been told to keep a journal.  I have been told to write about my experiences and reflect on my successes and struggles. I have been told to review my entries and make notes for the future. Every year this advice is shared in at least one professional development session I attend. And every year I write nothing.

Seriously, who has the time?

The question I should have been asking is, what is my purpose?

I wanted to keep a journal and reflect on my successes and struggles. I wanted to review my reflections and make notes for the future. I wanted to use my entries to be a better teacher. But in a teacher's life of needs and wants, journaling was at the bottom of my many, many to-do lists.

Until I decided I wanted to write a blog.

What is the first thing a person does when they decide they want to write a blog? Buy a journal of course. Journaling went from being a want to a need and I am so glad that it did.

Not only was I reflecting on my teaching, but I was also working through the writing process I require of my students.  And for the first time I was feeling what they feel. I have written numerous stories with my students, but those pieces of text were for them.  It's amazing how different the writing process feels when the purpose is personal.      

I began by generating ideas. What do I want to write about?

Here is what I came up with:



I no longer show frustration when my students say they can't think of anything. I show empathy and provide strategies. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to write when you have no idea what it is you want to say?

But just like with my students, once I got one down, my ideas flooded the page.  Some days I added numerous topics to my list, other days I just reflected on which ones I am ready to write about. My "ideas page" (now pages) is my favorite. It's a page of beginning. And I like beginnings. It is a page filled with hopes and questions. I add to my list often and I teach my students to do the same.  Ideas do not come to a writer solely on the day they are assigned to generate them.  Ideas are all around us and while in the past I would think something is a great idea, now I write those ideas down.  I watch some of my students do it too.  When I see them quietly take out their writing journal during math or recess or science, jot something down, and then they quickly return it to their desk, I can't help but smile. I know what they are doing.  They are remembering, they are recording, they are writing.

I draft stories the same way my students do. I try each idea on for size.  I abandon stories that don't fit the way I thought they would and I rework others the best I can.  I care more about the content than the conventions. And I accept that while writing is never done, there is a time to finish.

I believe so deeply in this process, but it is much easier to teach it than it is to do it.  It is hard to walk away from a story that is just not working. To give up on an idea you love and have spent hours on.  And it is hard to move past wasting time of whether or not the comma goes inside or outside the quotation marks. And if it's quotation marks or quotation mark. And it is incredibly hard to stop working on a piece of writing. To stop reading it over and over again hoping the right word will come to you this time. But I do it.  And the more I do it, the easier it gets.  

The more I do it, the more I find my "inky courage". The more my students do it, the bolder their writing becomes.  The most valuable writing skill I hope my students learn is that what they have to say matters.  I'm learning this too. 

I empower my students to share their writing and ideas with others and to share what has worked and what hasn't. I share my writing too. Thank you for reading. 

And as a class, we celebrate our writing. We celebrate the journey and the work that went into creating something new.  We celebrate our courage and accomplishments. We celebrate what could be next. We celebrate our pride in our work. 

I'm still working on the celebrating part.  As an adult I have a hard time being proud of myself.  But through this process, that is actually what I am learning to do.  I hope my students learn this too. It's amazing how much you can learn from the work we ask of 8 year olds.