Start with Celebration

I am ready to put the fun back in writing for my students!!! The statement on page 20, "Often we kill off their writing spirit and energy with all the stuff we give them, all the talk of requirements, the lack of choice, the overfocus on correctness, and the pressure on high-stakes tests." Isn't that the truth today!! As was stated on page 29, "As teachers, we need to view children's writing through a nurturing, positive lens and notice all the small and big things kids do well." Less rating and much more praising on any writing that is accomplished. I need to write more in front of my class. Let them see me think out loud about my topic and what details I want to include in this piece of writing. I used to share so many stories about my family and pets with my students, but the pressure of having more to do to teach all the standards for the state assessments has caused me to stop doing that very much. What a shame! I will be doing more of that sharing, not less in my classroom. So many writing topics could springboard from such a simple act as me telling about the time our dogs knocked the screen door onto the kitchen table, totally destroying the supper I had just put there!! I want my students to be excited about writing. At Christmas time we wrote about that one special gift. Their stories were from the heart. I plan to use the Valentine letters lesson with my class. I can't wait to see their writing about a special moment in their life. Who knows, we may even risk writing "the truths about third grade" one of these days!!!