six word memoirs

It’s hard not to love the writing project. There are so many amazing ideas that get floated around, and teachers are so generous with their time and energy that it really feels like we are getting a lot done. It’s fun to watch people who have never been exposed to the writing project “model” get excited about going back to their classrooms and trying something new.

One of the new fun things that we talked about today was the six word memoir. Popularized with Smith magazine and made famous with Hemingway’s “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”,they attempt to encapsulate all (or part) of a life in just six words. You can imagine the fun. What’s mine?

Explore. Roots Stretch. Moving encourages growth.

How very zen of me.

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publishing cabbages and kings

We had a fascinating speaker at the writing project yesterday. Erick Gordon of the Student Press Initiative spoke to us of the power of publishing and audience for student writers. Most of it was old news (the idea of publishing being motivating has been around awhile), but Erick was an engaging speaker and the most important part was not necessarily that publishing would be motivating.

It’s amazing to think of the far-reaching effects that publishing student writing can have. Not only do we give our students something, but we also give something to the world. And isn’t that one of the goals of all teachers? And isn’t touching the world something we want to teach our students to strive for?

When students begin thinking of audience (or at least of an audience beyond their teachers and best friends) the power of the writing expands to encompass the world. Teachers struggle to make their students connect to the outside world and feel as if their work matters–publishing could do both.

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I love teachers…

I love to read and write. I love learning. I think it’s out of sight. I love the kids I have. And the ones I’ll have next year.(boom de yadda)(boom de yadda)(boom de yadda)(boom de yadda).

I love that Discovery ad–if you haven’t seen it, it’s here. I think videos like this showcase one of the most positive aspects of you-tube and other sites like it–their ability to pass the positive and people’s responses to the positive around the world.

I like using resources like this (sometimes, obviously, under the radar of those who block useful websites) in my classroom. They are inspiring and invigorating and uplifting and fun to imitate. We’ve done our own versions of the Obama “Yes We Can” video–written parodies of various “teaching” videos, watched the Challenger tragedy and responded to it and generally made writing part of the experience of watching. It’s amazing how inquisitive students are (and how much easier it is to teach analysis) when they hear the world “you tube”. I don’t let the technology take the place of the lesson, but I certainly love using it as a tool. (plus, of course, a whole class of eighth graders quietly humming “boom de yadda” while they write their poems/stories/responses is not to be missed.)

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writing, reading, goals, and grades

My students turned in their Writer’s Workshops today. Well, yesterday, but I’ve been grading them fairly constantly since yesterday afternoon, so the days have blurred together. As usual, my students have delighted and surprised me.

One of my favorite aspects of Writer’s Workshop is that it allows so much student choice. A colleague of mine just gave his first ever assignment that allowed students to pick their topic, and he was shocked at the number of completed, and well-written, essays he got. I just grinned.

So far I’ve gotten letters to authors (which, if the author is living, I mail off), letters to me, letters to friends(real and imaginary) and several short stories. I’ve also gotten a few passionate essays on the dress-code and cell phones written with the pleading only present in middle school.

It’s great fun. Of course, I also included an “essay” assignment in their contract, they do have to learn to write those, but because they were able to do other things that they wanted to do; the thing they had to do was made palatable. And easier. And more fun.

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