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Thank you, Margaret Wise Brown

8/26/2014

 
     I was blessed with a granddaughter in January, 2014, and I spent a lot of time with her this summer. One of the books we read often was Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Coincidentally, I saw a link to a blogpost by Aimee Bender about how writers can use this wonderful children's book as a mentor text! 


     When I left school in June, headed into the reflection of long summer days, I was feeling pretty battered by my school's low scores on our state reading assessments. The teachers and students and administration had worked so hard to prepare for these tests...and yet the results were low. Even lower than the year before. How could this be? What were we doing wrong? What. Were. We. Doing???


     I had been reading Donalyn Miller @donalynbooks , had even met and chatted with her on a visit she made to my hometown. I am a former teacher of gifted students...most of whom enjoy reading and, so, do it frequently. I was factoring that information into my reflections. I was listening to the voices of Richard Allington and all of the other researchers who are reminding us that students who read independently are more successful - as students, as test-takers, as people in the world.


     And I was inspired to express my feelings about what our reading rooms, our classrooms, should look like using Goodnight Moon as a mentor text. Here is the result. (*Of course, as educators, we are still charged to prepare our students for state assessments. But perhaps we can "dim the lights" occasionally on testing and encourage our students to foster an authentic love of reading)


In the great Greenfield classroom

There was a library

And a reading place

And dedicated time for -

Students and books to embrace.

And there were texts of all kinds for readers to find

Like two tubs of mysteries

And several with histories.

Like a mythology pack

And a fantasy stack

And the time and the space for ideas to grow

And a teacher who cares who was whispering “Go!”


Goodbye scores

Goodbye stress

Goodbye everyone jumping through hoops.

Goodbye DRA

And the benchmark tests

Goodbye fears

Goodbye tears

Goodbye hurry

And goodbye worry


Hello Pigeon

And hello Mudge

Hello Ms. Cleary

And hello Fudge

Hello Frindle

And hello Kate

Hello Wimpy Kid

Hello Big Nate

And hello to the stories that make our lives great.


Hello stars

Hello air

Hello possibilities everywhere.








Something Just as Important...

8/11/2014

 

     

     There is something important to know about me beyond the notion that I am a writer of a middle grade novel. I am also a writing teacher. I work with elementary students in a K-5 school, and the responsibility that I feel to move them forward as writers drives my teaching engine.

     So many students get lost in the process of writing without ever understanding that it is their voice that is most important. So few students even realize that they have a writing voice, much less possess the confidence to express it. Year after year I have coached young writers to believe in the stories of their lives. I have insisted that they live in the positive world of a writing community where every writer knows he or she has a unique and important story to tell. Once a student gets that I will not accept the "I have nothing to write about" refrain, the real work can begin. 

     I started my work as a true writing teacher when I purchased my first Units of Study by Lucy Calkins, et al out of Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. I pored through those first units for grades 3-5. Highlighting. Underlining. Annotating. Condensing. And then I started using them with my students. It was transformational!

     Across the years I have internalized much of TCRWP's philosophies and strategies. I have attended two summer writing institutes and one coaching institute at Columbia University. My confidence as a writing teacher is only superseded by the absolute joy I feel when my students grow as writers.

     Whether or not I ever publish a novel, I will count my successes by the students who leave my room feeling like writers. It may not be at the same level as a Newbery Honor, but when a parent of a student or a former student himself thanks me for impacting his writing life, I feel like a million bucks!

Enter and Be Counted

8/5/2014

 
So, here I am. Sitting on the edge of the "Writing World" and wondering how, or even whether, I want to enter and be counted. It seems otherworldly to me, this Land of Authors. So far, my personal writing world has consisted of a white nursery chair from Pottery Barn Kids, my Apple MacBook Pro, some lovely friends who encourage me to believe in my story, and more 3:30 a.m. writing sessions than I can count.

I've written across years, through two beloved dogs, in between teaching, despite parenting duties, and because of a supportive spouse. My book is 140 pages, 40, 265 words long. At least it is today.

I continue to revise this piece of my heart. I remember when I completed the very first draft. I called my loyal, supportive writing friend who was on her way to a skiing trip with her family. I exploded with excitement. I exclaimed it a day of celebration. As if a baby had been born! It certainly felt as momentous.

That was three years ago.

Years have passed. Amber the golden retriever and Shadow the rescue dog have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. My story has sat for awhile. You see, once the first draft was done, I had no idea what to do next. (Well of course, revision. I am, after all, a teacher of writing. I know the process, for goodness sake)

I had never, ever, ever revised something that was made of 140 pages and 40, 265 words. 

And so, I played with it. I ignored it. I edited it. I reread it. And reread it. And reread it...Oh, and I did enter a first 250 words contest which I did not win. But, I did hear from one of the judges who was intrigued enough to ask for the first 10 pages!! I had to call my loyal, supportive writing friend to ask her if she thought the email I received from the agent was a hoax. No, she said. It's for real. And then she danced right along with me!

It never went any further. The agent thanked me and gave me some words of advice.  But that email, that request for more, has kept me hopeful. Now it's time to decide whether or not to leap beyond my Pottery Barn Kids overstuffed chair and into the "Writing World" of agents and queries and contests and conferences and classes and marketing and...rejection!

The thing is, I just reread my story, and I love it! I do not know if anyone outside these four walls will also love it, but I will never know unless I try. And it is not coincidental that the central theme of my story is hope.

I guess I'm going to enter and be counted. I paid my SCBWI dues. I joined James River Writers. Now I need to sign up for the 2014 JRW Conference. Do I dare sign up for a pitching session with an actual agent??

Wish me luck!

    Why write?

    I once heard the story of a writer who caught her own reflection in a window. She realized that once she moved past that window, the moment of her reflection would be lost to her forever.

    And so it is with all of our lives. 

    Writing is catching a life moment in words... keeping it visible to be remembered, to be cherished, to be learned from.

    Preserving it forever. 

    That is why I write.

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