Slice of Life Day 3: Writing Mindset Matters
After a challenging week, I haven't been in the right mindset to write. These first few days of SOL have been hard for me. You know how it goes...jotting random notes in my writing notebook. Crossing out everything. Staring into the empty whiteness of the Blogger template, while my mind wanders. Try as I might, my thoughts have continually been taken up by other things. Anything I can think to write about comes back to the challenging week, and that's not what I want to fill my blog.
My experience in these first few days has made me reflect on the young writers we work with. It's not just about our perfect mini lesson, the right graphic organizer, or nailing the teaching point during our conferring. It's about where the writer is. What matters to them. What is filling their mind in that moment.
I know that relevance matters and that's why I believe in choice and voice in the writing workshop...but I think it goes much deeper than that. Even a student who loves bugs and is fascinated by the informational book he is writing on centipedes, might feel paralyzed in that project and drawn to writing the story of the day his grandpa taught him to ride a bike, on the day after he visits his grandpa in the hospital. Or he might not. He might prefer to throw himself into the piece that feeds his fascination and distracts him from his worry for a little while. It's going to be different day by day and child by child.
How we create space for this flexibility in our classrooms? For the learning that comes from writing in various genres, but also the catharsis that can happen in a random writing moment. How can we create passionate, eager writers who are driven to learn more and grow, while providing the space and opportunities for whatever needs to be written?
This is why relationships need to be at the center of everything. So that we know that student and we see that he is worried about his grandfather. Maybe our conference doesn't have a teaching point that day. Or maybe it does. Maybe we show him how Seymour Simon used descriptive details to really freak out readers and describe interesting animals in his book, Animals Nobody Loves. Or maybe we ask him about his grandpa and his favorite memories and encourage him to tell those stories...even in the middle of our informational writing unit.
We are able to honor where writers are and grow them when we first have a relationship with them. Lean in and listen closely when you are conferring. Sometimes what they need isn't going to be on your conferring checklist. Look beyond the blank page and the, "I don't know what to write about!" commentary. Observing the head space or writing mindset of the student can be quite insightful.
The next time I see a blank page and a frustrated writer I will respond with more empathy and fewer assumptions about avoiding work.
My experience in these first few days has made me reflect on the young writers we work with. It's not just about our perfect mini lesson, the right graphic organizer, or nailing the teaching point during our conferring. It's about where the writer is. What matters to them. What is filling their mind in that moment.
I know that relevance matters and that's why I believe in choice and voice in the writing workshop...but I think it goes much deeper than that. Even a student who loves bugs and is fascinated by the informational book he is writing on centipedes, might feel paralyzed in that project and drawn to writing the story of the day his grandpa taught him to ride a bike, on the day after he visits his grandpa in the hospital. Or he might not. He might prefer to throw himself into the piece that feeds his fascination and distracts him from his worry for a little while. It's going to be different day by day and child by child.
How we create space for this flexibility in our classrooms? For the learning that comes from writing in various genres, but also the catharsis that can happen in a random writing moment. How can we create passionate, eager writers who are driven to learn more and grow, while providing the space and opportunities for whatever needs to be written?
This is why relationships need to be at the center of everything. So that we know that student and we see that he is worried about his grandfather. Maybe our conference doesn't have a teaching point that day. Or maybe it does. Maybe we show him how Seymour Simon used descriptive details to really freak out readers and describe interesting animals in his book, Animals Nobody Loves. Or maybe we ask him about his grandpa and his favorite memories and encourage him to tell those stories...even in the middle of our informational writing unit.
We are able to honor where writers are and grow them when we first have a relationship with them. Lean in and listen closely when you are conferring. Sometimes what they need isn't going to be on your conferring checklist. Look beyond the blank page and the, "I don't know what to write about!" commentary. Observing the head space or writing mindset of the student can be quite insightful.
The next time I see a blank page and a frustrated writer I will respond with more empathy and fewer assumptions about avoiding work.
What a thought-provoking post! I have observed similar things about myself and my writing but hadn't yet applied them to my students and their struggles. I need to be more mindful about honoring and welcoming "whatever needs to be written" rather than just doggedly pursuing my agenda.
ReplyDelete