"We forgot about the flowers." by Leigh Anne Eck

Happy Labor Day!

For some of us, Labor Day means a welcomed break from the start of a school year.  While for others, it's the much anticipated day before the school year begins.

Whether you have been in school for weeks or are starting tomorrow, I am sure ideas of how to build a writing community have permeated your thoughts.

Maybe you have planned quickwrites, or have your own writer's notebook ready to share with your students.  Maybe you have writing centers ready to go with fun pens that you love and different kinds of paper.  Maybe you have mentor texts that you have written this summer to model for your students.

You are ready to bring your writing life into your classroom.

But how many of you have "forgotten about the flowers?"

Back in 1978, I was an eighth grader, and the movie, Ice Castles was released.  I had this thing for Robby Benson (we share the same birthday!) so this quickly became one of my favorite movies.

It is a story about a figure skater who becomes blind, and with the help of the character played by Benson, finds a way to skate again.  He prepares her for a big competition, but no one knows she is blind. (Suspend reality here!)  She skates a flawless routine to the theme song of the movie, "Through the Eyes of Love."

The audience gives her a standing ovation and begins to throw flowers out onto the ice.  She takes her  final lap, not knowing that the flowers are in her way.  She stumbles and falls, revealing her secret to everyone there.  Robby goes out onto the ice to help her and says, "We forgot about the flowers."

On the second day of school, I planned a "write-around" activity where I gave a starter sentence and students had to add on to the story.  Then we moved to another student's writing and added to that story.  We moved four times to four different stories.  I thought this would be a great way to get kids up and moving while writing fun, silly stories.

Only I had one student who refused to participate.  I tried to coax him to write by telling him how much fun this activity could be.

Still nothing.

I came back to him and told him he only needed to write one sentence, just one sentence.

Still nothing.

So I let him be.  I later found out that he struggles with writing.  I was creating a space where he could stumble and fall, revealing his secret to everyone there, simply because I "forgot about the flowers."

I forgot about those students who struggle with writing or who have a fear of writing.  This is why being a teacher who writes is so important. When we write ourselves and bring our writing life into our classroom, we have a better understanding of the challenges our students face.

Here's to a year of bringing our writing life into the classroom...

and remembering the flowers!

Leigh Anne has entered her 12th year of teaching.  She has taught 4th and 5th grade and currently teaches 6th grade ELA at a middle school in Indiana.  She is working on her Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Western Governors University with a goal of becoming a literacy coach. Leigh Anne has a passion for connecting kids with books and helping teachers develop a writing life. You can connect with her on Twitter @Teachr4 or on her blog, A Day in the Life.