Teaching | BulgingButtons

November 6, 2016
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Am I Really A Writer?

I like to think of myself as many things. Some of them are irrefutable. I am a mother. I am a teacher. These are simple facts. I have a son, therefore I am a mother. I go to work each day and spend the day teaching fourth grade students, therefore I am a teacher.

What else am I, though? And how do we verify these different identities?

Lately I’ve been a writer. How does one become a writer? By writing, some would say, but many others would say that one becomes a writer only when one’s writing has been published. Even that definition isn’t sufficient for many people. I’ve heard the argument that in order to be considered a writer one must be published and paid for one’s writing.

Well, I do write. And I have been published. I publish here, in my own little corner of the internet, regularly. Nobody pays me for it, though. I’ve also been published on other websites, like Scary Mommy and Education Week. Again, no money in that, but to me it’s still pretty cool.

My design!

I have actually been paid to write. Not much, but I’ve submitted tips to a teaching publication that have been published and I’ve been compensated for them. I also designed a fish quilt that not only made it to the cover of Quiltmaker, a well-known quilting publication (it’s an inset photo, but hey, it’s still on the cover), and the design was turned into a kit complete with gorgeous watery indigo fabrics and magentas and purples for the fish. I was paid for that too, not much, but still they cut me a check. That one, however, wasn’t really a writing win, even though I was published.

I’ve been writing for NaNoWriMo, too. I finished a manuscript during NaNoWriMo in 2013, and I’ve been revising it with help from my critique group (another thing real writers do, I’m told). Now I’m into a new one story, about a young English teacher who needs to solve a mystery that threatens the security she’s found amongst the quilters she meets in a small town. See what I did there? Teaching, quilting, things I know and like.

I also teach writing. I teach it to my fourth graders, sure, but I’ve been teaching it in the summer too, for the past three years. Kids from seven to seventeen have come to these camps, and working with them as they explore the creative side of writing has been such a privilege for me. We’re not focused on grammar, structure, or spelling in these camps. We’re focused on imagination, empowerment, and risk-taking. We’re helping kids to develop their voices through their writing, whether in a poem about a leaf or an ode to their dog or a comic about super heroes and villains or an introspective look at their own strengths.

This type of writing is so powerful for kids that I’ve begun an after-school creative writing club at my school that is well attended. Both boys and girls come in to write and share their writing, blasting the stereotype we sometimes hear that “writing is for girls.” I’m sure Stephen King, James Patterson, Dav Pilkey, Neil Gaiman, Alberto Ríos, and many others would disagree.

So yes, I’m a writer, even though you won’t see anything I’ve done on the shelves at Barnes & Noble and if you search me on Amazon you’ll come up empty. I’ll keep at it, though, and maybe someday you will see my work there. Maybe someday soon.

November 5, 2016
by BulgingButtons 2 Comments

Getting Busy With Prezi

What do you do when you’re busy? Get busier, of course.

Why is it that when I’m already pulled in a million directions I feel like it’s the perfect time to take on something new? Maybe because my brain is in overdrive and it feels competent and energized? Or maybe because my common sense has abandoned me?

Either way, I decided that I should learn how to use Prezi presentation software. I’ve seen it in action a few times, and to me it’s far more engaging than good old PowerPoint (no worries, PP, I’ll still be using you for many years to come, I’m sure).
I visited their website and was delighted to learn that educators can use a version of Prezi for free upon verification of their status (it was easy, just submit school email and website). The tutorial is straightforward, and blessedly short. In under five minutes I had created my first Prezi.

Of course that first one had about as much complexity and polish as a first grader’s attempt at poetry, but it’s a start. I keep pushing my students to try new things and stretch their brains, so it stands to reason that I should do the same. I plan on playing around with Prezi more in the future. In fact there’s a report on the Mayan culture that we just wrote that would look great as a Prezi. Oh yes, this is going to be good!

October 20, 2016
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Why Do I Write?

This was the question posed to my fourth grade students on their recent “Writing Motivation Survey.” It was in the form of an online poll, complete with twenty-eight questions that they were to rank on a 1-4 scale. It was required before they completed their annual district writing assessment.

Twenty-eight questions. They are nine years old. If I ask them why they write they will tell me things like, “I have to” or “I like writing because it’s fun” or “I like making up stories.” Those replies are perfectly appropriate for a nine year old. But twenty-eight questions? Too much.

Speaking of too much, there’s the assessment itself. In the old days we passed out a paper folder with a writing prompt on the front. It was one or two sentences long. We also passed out a check sheet that kids were to use for revision and editing purposes. Some used it, many did not. After they completed a rough draft they got a second paper folder for the final draft. It was a long process, and quite demanding, but appropriate to the age and grade level.

Times have changed, however. Now the kids get a copy of the scoring guideline, which is written for adults. Good thing we have access to it ahead of time so that we can teach them what it means. The test is now on the computer, which isn’t uncommon, but it does take quite a few more steps to get to than passing out a paper. They have to read through two dense pages of “how to use the tools” (again, we are able to do this ahead of time, thank goodness), before they even get to the prompt.

Ah, the prompt. It’s on the right side of the screen, with a related article on the left side. Remember the old one to two sentence prompt? That’s gone. Now there’s about 200 words of text they have to navigate before they can figure out what they’re supposed to write about. And am I allowed to read it to them or help them interpret it? Absolutely not. They are on their own (even though this is not a reading comprehension test, it’s a writing test).

The expectation is that they will then independently read the included article on the topic (again, no help is allowed) and incorporate information into their response. They also watch an informational video and take notes on it to include. Then they are to independently compose their piece, revise and edit it, and type it into the computer. Did I mention that they’re nine?

We try to prepare them for this task, but frankly it’s too much. Even if I could rewrite the prompt so that it’s easier to understand, even if I could choose a shorter, simpler article, even if I could read it to them, it’s too much. How often do you have to read text, view a video, and compose a piece of writing all in one sitting? And you’re an adult!

It’s a good thing they take the “Writing Motivation Survey” before this assessment, because afterward I don’t think too many of my kids were feeling very good about writing, and that’s terrible. I have to do damage control, and work hard to get them back to a place where they don’t hate to write. Tasks like this are discouraging to so many learners, even kids who are normally enthusiastic about writing.

I understand the value of being able to accomplish that type of task, but honestly for kids in the fourth grade it’s too much, too soon. Now we’ll take a few steps back, break down some of those writing tasks into smaller chunks, and tackle those. We’ll also go back to enjoying language and learning how to play with it.

fun-writing The good new is that kids are flexible. They did it. They survived. They’ll move on. My creative writing club kids met yesterday afternoon, and they proved it to me. They wrote for thirty sustained minutes about planets they created based on their watercolor paintings from the previous session. We had poetry, a space explorer account, a newscast drama, descriptions of the unicorn planet, the rainbow planet, the basketball planet, and more. Now that’s a reason to write.