I've undertaken a lot this summer. The largest being a month long commitment to writing. I was graciously asked to apply to, and then accepted, into North Star of Texas Writing Project's Summer Institute. My co-ninja, Kelly, has been a part of NSTWP for years now and she has been after me for at least as long to accept writing as "good and not evil". I was positive that it was just not part of who I was. But it happened, she was finally able to brainwash me into feeling the need to go and become a part of this Writing Project.
I went.
Begrudgingly.
Dragging my hypothetical feet like an insolent brat.
I complained most of the first week, or maybe it was two weeks.
So don't tell her that I am actually enjoying it. I knew I would learn a lot, but I never in my wildest ideas thought I would end up thinking like a writer. I am the READING NINJA for Pete's sake!
But alas, I have been cursed with now having the brain of a writer. I can't see something odd or unusual and not think "Oh! I should write this down!" or "That comment would make a great blog post." (I am looking forward to writing about my experience this morning while at the hair salon!) Most of those will end up on my personal blog, due to my "adult" sense of humor. No matter; the fact is, it now seems that I must keep track of everything because I might want to write about it someday. I am constantly writing intros and hooks in my head, seeing how it sounds, for days or weeks before I get it on paper.
I've been listening to David Sedaris's newest book on my iPhone as I drive the hour and a half north to get to these classes. He writes little personal vignettes about things he's seen or noticed. Most of them are small, but then he connects them to another event in his childhood or to when he was a young adult. I think he's hilarious, and as I was writing the other day I noticed I was modeling my writing after his. My own mentor text. Hmmm - who knew I'd someday think like a writer? Ok - who besides Kelly.
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
June 27, 2014
October 19, 2012
National Day on Writing 2012
Today was a day for celebrating what we write. Seems to me that this is also a pretty good day to start off our shared ninja-teaching blog! But more on that later. For now, let me regal you with moments of writing wootfulness. And yes, that is definitely a word.
On the way in to work today, I caught of glimpse of this video by superstar twitter-pal Kevin Hodgson:
Beyond asking my students to blog about their writing today, I wasn't sure how I wanted to celebrate. It's just been that kind of week, y'all. Kevin, who you should definitely be following on Twitter (@dogtrax) gave me the little boost of inspiration I needed. Also, I really like stealing ideas.
Last night, I wrote a blog post to my students, which you can read here. Basically, I got all teary-eyed and told them that they matter. And then I wrote them a poem. The fun part about writing the poem is this: one of my students recently wrote a poem inspired by Sharon Creech's Love That Dog but based on Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan. Creech took the time to comment on my student's poem and that became an avalanche of poetic inspiration in the classroom. I thought I should get in on the action. And yeah, it was pretty fun to watch my student's eyes light up when she read the dedication at the bottom of my poem today.
They read my post and responded with posts of their own, writing things like "I couldn't shine without the rapid sound of graphite on paper," and there's even another poem inspired by Love That Dog about a sister and pancakes. What amazes me so much about all their posts (37, to be exact), is that the only "prompt" they were given was to write about what they write. And they did. Each in their own way. Some long, others short, all creative and each unique.
All in all, a very good day. To close out this fabulous day on writing, here's my freebie-Animoto video I made from some of their work this year. And by the way, welcome to our blog. Jenny and I are excited to share a little of the reading and writing love happening in our rooms every day.
On the way in to work today, I caught of glimpse of this video by superstar twitter-pal Kevin Hodgson:
Beyond asking my students to blog about their writing today, I wasn't sure how I wanted to celebrate. It's just been that kind of week, y'all. Kevin, who you should definitely be following on Twitter (@dogtrax) gave me the little boost of inspiration I needed. Also, I really like stealing ideas.
Last night, I wrote a blog post to my students, which you can read here. Basically, I got all teary-eyed and told them that they matter. And then I wrote them a poem. The fun part about writing the poem is this: one of my students recently wrote a poem inspired by Sharon Creech's Love That Dog but based on Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan. Creech took the time to comment on my student's poem and that became an avalanche of poetic inspiration in the classroom. I thought I should get in on the action. And yeah, it was pretty fun to watch my student's eyes light up when she read the dedication at the bottom of my poem today.
They read my post and responded with posts of their own, writing things like "I couldn't shine without the rapid sound of graphite on paper," and there's even another poem inspired by Love That Dog about a sister and pancakes. What amazes me so much about all their posts (37, to be exact), is that the only "prompt" they were given was to write about what they write. And they did. Each in their own way. Some long, others short, all creative and each unique.
All in all, a very good day. To close out this fabulous day on writing, here's my freebie-Animoto video I made from some of their work this year. And by the way, welcome to our blog. Jenny and I are excited to share a little of the reading and writing love happening in our rooms every day.
Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.
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