#TeachWrite Chat Blog

This month’s theme of "Noticings" was quite serendipitous as I concluded my semester with my undergraduates at the University of Louisville (quite early for the spring semester, as we have to be done by the Kentucky Derby!)

We have spent four months together, working alongside children and noticing their strategic moves as writers. We read about the need for writing in schools today. We wrote and reflected on ourselves as writers through different writing engagements. We’ve completed two reflection pieces to bookmark the ways our thinking changed over the semester. My students wrote a literacy history at the beginning and the end of our semester. We also completed a “Writing Is…” engagement at the start and end of our class. I write about that here because I notice such beautiful evolutions and transformations in my students’ thinking about writing.

 I list some themes I notice below:

·      Writing is a process: My students realized the ongoing nature of writing- how it never ends, how we can’t be “done” during workshop in school, meant to take time, and most importantly, realizing the need to be okay with the “messiness” instead of crossing writing off a to-do list.
·      Writing is beautiful: My students began to appreciate the beauty and the artfulness of writing, as they believe it’s not a cookie cutter deal, a piece of artwork, and a way to express a student’s identity. (This one is my favorite!)
·      Writing is more than just grammar and mechanics: In January, students discuss writing as mechanical and grammatical- a reflection of their own writing experiences they had mentioned in literacy histories. In April, there is no discussion of grammar or mechanics. We know it matters- it’s just now we know it’s not the ONLY thing that matters.
·      Writing is therapy. This was evident in both January and April, but more students reflected on the therapeutic nature of writing. The teacher education program is tough! It also has limited opportunities to write other than for academic purposes. Many students discussed how our writing engagements helped them relax or de-stress. I hope they continue :)

 

Thanks to beautiful teacher-writers like Katie Wood Ray, Lucy Calkins, Ralph Fletcher, Lester Laminack, Georgia Heard, and others who shaped my students’ thinking as we explored how our students deserve a space for writing!

Emily Zuccaro is a doctoral candidate at the University of Louisville studying elementary literacy education and language learning. She loves coffee shops and libraries and walking the Big Four Bridge. She is supported by her boyfriend, Tyler, their son, Brinley, and their two cats and dog. You can follow her on Twitter @miss_zuccaro.