Since students become what you tell them they are, I often jot on their draft: "You are a writer!"
There are words that I use for the prose less polished, too: “You think like a writer,” I say.
It works, and they work. We find spots of strength together, and in their newfound pride of profession, they start to choose words more carefully. They scribble and tap and pace and revise, and their pieces become more precise and revealing reflections of who they are… as writers and not just as 7th graders.
Now in summer, it is my turn.
“You’re a writer,” I say to myself. “You forget this sometimes from September through June, but you know you’re a writer, so go bust out some creative grammar and make it dance on the page!”
My teacher brain dictates that I keep a strict schedule, of course.
I wake up, have a leisurely first breakfast. I exercise, grab a motivating second breakfast. Make a list full of chapters and word goals and other things that are luxuries between the months of September to June.
Next, I haul my trusty Mac past the tourists and puddle comfortably in a coffee shop. I find myself typing to whatever rhythms the barista blasts. I drink as much caffeine as I please, and fall into a pleasantly tangential research hole, because in summer that isn’t an issue. (Or at least not one that’s time-sensitive.)
I dawdle over lunch, daydreaming of the perfect words, but trying all the wrong ones first. I eat things, complicated things of which the cafeteria wouldn’t dare to dream.
I punctuate with a satisfying flourish because it’s mine. I revise with a critical eye for the exact same reason.
Summer is my time again, and because people become what you tell them they are, in summer I say: I AM a writer.
Carrie Foster is a National Board Certified Teacher of middle school social studies in Portland, Maine. She logs her adventures in and out of classrooms all over the world on her blog Follow Miss Fooster, and you can find her on Twitter @carolineadele13.
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Yes, we sometimes forget from September through June that we are writers! I found myself saying Yes, yes, YES! throughout this entire post. But the words that stuck with me are, "...daydreaming of the perfect words, but trying all the wrong ones first." So many writers, including my own students, forget this, and this a such a valuable message to remember!
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing with us this month, and enjoy your summer writing time!