Much is Possible by Marina Rodriguez

For a writer, a community is crucial. It is a safe place, a place where you are valued, supported, and respected. And for young writers, living and learning within a community is not only important but necessary.

In a rich writing community, we do much more than build upon common beliefs, we build upon hopes, dreams, inspirations, and sacrifice time to help each other celebrate, learn, and grow. We create authentic and meaningful experiences by working together.

Here, we are not alone.

My Community - Let’s Write

I don’t believe it possible to truly understand community until you have had the opportunity to live it. My writing community is impactful to my writing life, and I am grateful for having discovered it. We are an eclectic group of writers, authors, poets, educators, and leaders of literacy. It is humbling to walk among giants. However, here, I am safe to share my work. This is where I learn to grow my writing, and where I learn how to grow young writers.

Classroom Community - Hour of Blog

Building an ideal community in the classroom is challenging. We are confined by schedules and inhaled by forms, documentation, testing, conferences, and record keeping. In my desperation to build an ideal writing community for my students, I created an after-school writing club, Hour of Blog. Here is where we are free to live and work as writers. We write. We blog. We help each other grow. It is magical.

Community is about valuing, supporting, and respecting those with whom you share a passion. It is where we generate strength to persevere, discover our own gifts, and learn to use them to help others grow.

Alone we are limited. In a community, much is possible.

   

Marina Rodriguez is a fourth-grade dual language teacher in College Station, Texas. She is a National Writing Project, Heart of Texas Writing Project Teacher Consultant, CSISD Writing Project leader, and LEADS Innovator. Marina focuses her work on the collaboration of writing, technology, and innovation to help guide 21st Century Students to thrive and grow. She shares her journey, as a lifelong learner, at http://www.marinarodz.com. Follow her on Twitter @mrodz308.