Last Saturday morning I listened to The Quickwrite Handbook with Linda Rief and Penny Kittle, a podcast episode on Heinemann's Teacher Podcasts. In this podcast, extraordinary teacher-writer Penny Kittle shares an experience she had listening to legendary, beloved teacher-writer Linda Rief speak at a conference (twenty years ago!) when she initially heard about Quickwrites and the powerful effect Quickwrites could have, "... these carefully planned engagements, could unlock the voice and ideas that lead to confidence and an interest in writing..." Penny Kittle also comments that Quickwrites, "...not only leads students to find writing and not only pay attention to the moves of writers, but it establishes a routine where students collect what matters to them in a safe place where they are allowed to stumble, to wobble, to fall..."
It made me stop to wonder why I did not use more Quickwrites in my daily writing. I have plenty of compelling texts all around me, but sometimes I forget to utilize them as a writing tool. Maybe writing with mentor texts would help me have less writing moments like these.
As I sat down to write that day, I glanced at my library copy of Naomi Shihab Nye's Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners. I devoured her beautiful and powerful introduction. Thinking as a writer, I found so many worthy entry points from her work that I could emulate. To begin, I wrote a few powerful passages and recorded a quote she referenced from poet Galway Kinnell, "To me, poetry is someone standing up, so to speak, and saying, with as little concealment as possible, what is it for him or her to be on earth at this moment?"
This passage led me to ponder this question, What is it like for me to be on this earth right now?
And then I wrote.
And I wrote.
And I wrote.
Here's a peek from my notebook writing that morning:
Coffee residue sticks to my teeth, tongue -
Brush me.
Wash away my grimy residue,
I yearn to feel clean.
Snuggling under my light weight hand-stitched quilt,
I am safely sheltered with
air-controlled temperature while
outside swells in heat,
barely a breeze for leaf sways.
I watch morning doves swoop for
sunflower seeds and
dogs saunter past
our bay window.
In silence I sit (mostly in silence) -
the hum of the nearby one-fish aquarium,
steady clock ticks,
air forced from vents -
stealing still moments before
children emerge -bedhead beauties-
and shatter
precious
quiet.
Writing with a compelling text beside me made a huge difference. The above writing wasn't profound or beautiful, but it got me writing and I kept going. As Penny referenced, I had the chance to play with words and ideas in a safe way in my notebook. In addition, it provided me with something worthy to consider. And since last Saturday, I have continued to dip into Voices in the Air as a source of daily writing engagement.
Join me in writing a slice of your life and sharing it with the Two Writing Teachers Community. Everyone is welcome!
