"Don't know what you are doing, but my daughter went from not liking writing to it being her favorite subject this year!"
A parent left this comment on my class Facebook page last week. I shared it the other day on Twitter. It's important to share victories and successes. It gives me confidence and encouragement to move forward when I read about others doing well.
I got several replies filled with encouragement and good cheer. A few Twitter peeps wanted to know what my secret is. I sort of half-heartedly answered a few and moved on with my day. But, it got me thinking. Do I really do have some sort of secret for teaching writing?
So I thought for bit, and I came back to my original half-hearted response. Only it didn't seem so half-hearted anymore. Do you want to know my big, fat secret for teaching kids to write better? My big, fat secret is...
I just really love it. In a word, passion.
It sounds simple, and I guess it is. But it's also true. I just really, really love teaching kids to write better. I'm drawn to stories and words. I relish the opportunities that I get to write. I love the craft of it; the creativity that drives it. It's an escape. It's more than an escape. It's an escape that you get to create in any way you want. Writing is therapy. Writing is a release. Writing is a way to cope and a way to make sense of our world.
I try to share that passion with my young writers each day. Whether we are writing in our journals, blogging, or doing some sort of creative writing, I give them as much enthusiasm as I can muster.
I wish I had “7 Keys to Make Kids LOVE Writing!” or “10 Easy Steps to Be An AWESOME Writing Teacher!” to share. But I don't. It's just me. A tall guy with a fuzzy beard, thick glasses and a heart for kids. I simply let my passion for writing spill all over the place and hope my students get soaked.
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Amen!
ReplyDeleteGreat last line of this post! You could replace writing with any subject and it would be the secret to great teaching of that subject. Your students are lucky to have you.
ReplyDeleteI love that you thought about this some more and realized that you are just passionate! What a great big, fat secret to share! It should be all our great, big fat secrets! I fell in love with your last line: "I simply let my passion for writing spill all over the place and hope my students get soaked." Well said!
ReplyDelete@Michelle
ReplyDeleteThanks for your encouragement! You were one of those Twitter peeps that got me thinking.
Have you participated in National Novel Writing Month before? My class is doing it this year, and I'm participating in the adult version. I even have at least one parent in my class who has agreed to give it a try. I fully anticipate not meeting the word count goal, but my kids are pretty psyched about it! Of course a few are nervous, but those are the ones who really appreciate that I admitted to not being good at writing fiction, but I'm going to try it anyway. http://ywp.nanowrimi.org and http://www.nanowrimo.org
ReplyDeleteI really wish music and art teachers had the same amount of time to instill passion in their students as well. ( I have been doing some thinking lately about what we teach, over-teach, and under-teach in school) I really wonder if writing falls in the over-teach and art and music in the under-teach.
ReplyDeleteThis comment is making me sound like a jerk....I think it is great you get students to love writing. I would suspect that the more they love to do it, the less you have to teach them to do it.
@Wm Chamberlain
ReplyDeleteI like that you sound like a jerk sometimes. You're in good company. :D
Seriously though, I know what you are saying. The big writing grades in Texas are 4th, 7th, and 10th/11th. And by big writing grades I mean that there is a state standardized test for writing during those years. It seems to get pushed hard during those years and then not stressed quite as much other years. It's more up and down than reading and math.
I'm a huge fan of art and music. I try to support the art and music teachers in class and out as much as possible. You said it in your first line, though- time. We would get serious about art and music if it were tested. That would then destroy part of the very reason we have art and music, thus creating a rift in the space-time continuum that would devour us all.
I'd love to see more time to instill passion in art and music too.
Justin, I understand the problem of a lack of time coupled with a misguided focus on certain disciplines. I just keep thinking that if we quit teaching so much irrelevant crap we would have more time to let kids learn things that are in my opinion more important.
ReplyDeleteI hope that someday when I have children that they have an equally passionate teacher like you! I was thinking, passion is what leads all of us to be great at something. I feel that's why I run a successful pet store, b/c I try to instill part of my passion for the business in each one of my employees. They should have a class focused on just Passion!
ReplyDelete