There’s hope friends. I found it today. I was teaching writing this morning first thing. I was blessed with this schedule. Get writing out of the way right away and then I can breathe. You all know my secret from last year that I really don’t like writing. It probably impacts my teaching of writing. I mean we get it done, but there isn’t as much joy as I’d like.
Today was different. It was a write day. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but we needed to get some writing in. I’ll admit, I was enjoying my story that I was writing as my model small moment narrative. It was a new one for me and the story really had the kids on the edge of their seats. But it wasn’t my day to write, it was theirs. So after a quick introduction and reminder of our task, the kids were off and I was helping to unlock that writers block that was plaguing a few students. I helped one friend pretty quickly since he had something very exciting happen to him just the day before. We did a quick plan and he went to work. Another friend walked up who needed help. We really magnified her one scene after I asked her to act out what happened so we could capture each moment. Other students were all relatively on task. I was feeling pretty good. This was a good write day!
DING! I rang my bell and called the kids to the carpet. We were going to end with a read aloud of another mentor text. I didn’t want to push my luck with their writing stamina just yet.
The book was a hit! It was a new one to me, recommended by another teacher and the internet as a good small moment story. The illustrations were captivating and the story was engaging. It really was a small moment story that was full of detail. Definitely one that stays in the pile for future use.
That’s when it happened folks. I looked at the clock and said, “Now we need to transition for math.”
“NO! I wanted to keep writing!” My student who had previously informed me that he was not going to write for me this year blurted out. I paused. Did I just hear that correctly? It was quickly followed by, “Same! I really want to get back to my story!” A chorus of groans that writing was over and requests for more time followed. I looked at my paraprofessional, shrugged my shoulders and said, “I think we can manage to snag a few minutes from math today. Let’s get back to our stories!”
Cheers erupted and a smile spread across my face. We found it- the joy in writing. And I really mean WE.
There’s hope my friends, there’s hope.
Teachers Write 