As I sit and think about the question of who I am as a writer, I realize that the definition is one that will always be complex and changeable. Some days I feel like I am truly a writer with a talent that has come from someone greater than me. Other days, I feel like I should not be allowed to use English in written communication. ( I will never forget those words Dr. P) Anyway, I know that my journey to understand and define myself as a writer is one that I can use as an example for my students. When they write, I will need to make the time to do so as well. When then need to revise, so do I. When they need to share, so will I. I need to give them a more concrete example of a person working to define themselves as a writer.
Creating a personal mission statement for myself as a writer and teacher is going to be a key element of defining myself as a writing teacher. The creation of this document is a goal that I will set for myself for this week.
The demos for today were great. Ashley had a great example of a glogster created by someone I know will be very useful. The concept of Critical Literacy is one that I had not ever thought about in real terms before today. I think that teaching kids to be critical of society, both laws and customs, will be an essential life skill for them to have as adults Megan's demo about building one's identity as a writer has challenged me to really create a personal mission statement.
Seeing Museum Box in action was great! I have known of the website for a while, but seeing Rashid's box in action and seeing how it could be used in a lesson was also very powerful. The notion of a "tipping point" is also an important one to considered. I can see a lot of opportunities to use that concept within my reading activities with my students. I will challenge them to find the tipping points as they read and write to me about them.
Throughout all of these demos today, I have seen where students can be given choices about what to think about in regards to topics and choices in how to respond back to me. I hope that giving them these choices will help to increase their motivation to write, both at home and at school. I have learned a lot today that has continued to challenge my thinking.
I have a hard time defining my teacher self, my writer self, my learner self separately. I feel like they're all so connected. Plus, I really like the idea we talked about in class today about 'composing' and how it has great depth. I feel like as teachers we're composing every day in class, even when we're not writing. Every moment in our class is a tableaux. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd PS I hope that teacher didn't say that to you. And if he did, that's terrible!
We are composers! We compose lesson plans, poems, and on and on!
ReplyDelete"I need to give them a more concrete example of a person working to define themselves as a writer." I love this idea! I am really working on making myself do what I ask my students to do... assignments, reflecting, whatever. I should do it if I'm asking them to so I can be a "concrete example".
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