For my first five years as an educator I was simply trying to survive. The school's environment was chaotic and I didn't have the time or energy to grow as a professional. I was ordered to conform to certain expectations and quickly reprimanded if I stepped out of bounds. Under the stacks of paperwork and standardized tests, creativity was stifled and teachers were quickly burning out.
Then the stars aligned in my favor, and I found myself teaching eleventh grade English at the Community School of Davidson. I am surrounded by truly talented professionals who put children first and value the relationships of teachers, students, administrators, parents, and the true community in which this magical school resides. I fell in love with teaching again. For the first time I feel supported and equipped to grow professionally.
I heard about the Writing Project from several colleagues at CSD. For some time I have been struggling with developing a theoretically based strong and exciting writing curriculum that worked in my classroom. This is what led me to the Writing Project.
Then, yesterday, orientation. The activities that we walked through together made me so excited to teach! I felt like a sponge, trying to write down every captivating method and idea that was shared. Most importantly, I was able to pinpoint my focus for growth over the coming three weeks in July. My inquiry questions are:
How do I get students excited about the writing?
How do I get students to care about what they are writing?
I know there is no cookie-cutter answer to these questions, but I am expectant that many answers will reveal themselves in my journey to find them. My journey starts with two books:
Teaching Writing That Matters: Tools and Projects That Motivate Adolescent Writers by Chris W. Gallagher and Amy Lee
and
Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher
The second book is, obviously, more geared toward reading. In a way, inspiring reading is part of my focus. Writers gain the most insight into developing their craft by reading. If I can ignite a passion to read in my students, I hope to also see a greater respect for the craft of skillful writing.
In the coming weeks, as I read these two books, I'll periodically share any fun finds that help me in navigating my inquiry questions. Hopefully I find things you, too, can use and be inspired by.
