Tuesday Slice of Life: That Time I Met KWR

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Tuesday Slice of Life: That Time I Met KWR

"I didn't realize Lester Laminack was speaking at this luncheon. Is there any way I can still buy a ticket?" 

Last month I was a newbie at NCTE's WLU Summer Institute in Columbia, South Carolina. In trying to save money, initially I did not sign up for the luncheon. Apparently I did not close-read the information on the WLU website and did not realize that beloved author Lester Laminack was the keynote speaker. Every person I had newly met at the conference was attending. 

The NCTE representative gently responded to my question, "It's a plated dinner, so it is not as simple as just charging you. Tell you what, if you just hang out until the luncheon officially begins, I will sneak you in if there is an open seat."

I nodded and thanked her. From the hotel hallway, I watched as conference participants streamed in, eager to secure spots by friends. A local elementary school from Irmo, South Carolina (The Oak Pointe Bucket Band) warmed the crowd with a lively bucket band performance. 

Just when I thought that I would be dining alone at the hotel restaurant, I heard, "You're in luck. We have some no-shows, so you can attend the luncheon. Just quietly find an empty seat and enjoy." 

"Thank you SO much!" Giddy, I scanned the room to find an empty seat and ventured towards a back table with one open chair. It happened to be next to Dr. Lenny Sanchez, a professor at U of SC and a colleague of my friend Cathy. 

"Is this seat taken?" I inquired.

"Nope, please sit!" Lenny grinned and I sat beside him.

To the right of me sat a thin woman with tight, curly hair. "I'm Trina," I quickly introduced myself. 

The woman held out her hand to shake mine, "Katie." Bucket band still playing, I glanced at her name tag to be certain I heard her name correctly. In a quick glance I peered at her name tag: Katie Wood Ray.

I froze. Katie Wood Ray? I sat next to the Katie Wood Ray, author and editor extraordinaire?  

"Oh. My. God. You're Katie Wood Ray?"

"Yes." She smiled.

Like a teenager upon seeing Justin Bieber, I gushed to Katie about how I loved all her books, how they changed me as a writer and a teacher of writers. And it would have been fine if I ended the conversation here. 

Mouth moving at warp speed, tangled in my Wisconsin accent, I went on to tell her that I loved writing so much, even pulling out and showing my latest journal, as somehow proving to her that I was writing. Yup, I was that girl. 

There are so many other ways that this conversation could have gone, but I was socially awkward. I offered stupid comments. I asked silly questions. I fumbled up my words. I did not really show up as myself.

Thank goodness Lester Laminack began his keynote SO I could keep my mouth shut and listen.

The WLU Summer Institute is a small, intimate conference. After the luncheon, of course I kept running into Katie: in the bathroom, in the hallway between sessions, in the hotel lobby. Each time I found myself inarticulate.

Through it all, Katie Wood Ray was gracious.

Until I wrote about it later in my notebook, I didn't realize how nervous I was to meet her. Then, in horror, I realized how desperate I was to sound intelligent and interesting - the kind of person Katie would want to know. It's not usually the person I show up as. 

Sigh. 

It has now been a few weeks since the WLU Summer Institute. I can now think about this conversation and laugh at myself a bit. After all, I was a bit starstruck at meeting the great Katie Wood Ray. 

In retrospect, I am reminded that we all say and do stupid, awkward things sometimes. In our personal lives. As teachers. As humans. We all do this. For me, this was a great reminder that awkward conversations (or in my case, a SERIES of awkward conversations) happen, and it's just a slice in our lives - not a reflection of who we are as whole people. 

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To read past posts about how I have been influenced by Katie Wood Ray's work, you can read here and here. Even if you are a teacher of high school or middle school students, Katie Wood Ray's work is brilliant, still applicable to older learners. Her work will inspire you to serve your students better. 

Slice of Life 2018 Day 23: Golden Lines - On Writing

In the summer of 2016, in my former role as a secondary district literacy coach, I led a professional development session to middle level and high school English Language Arts (ELA) teachers in my district on best practices in teaching adolescent writers.

I wanted to lead a session that wasn't just me talking and telling. I wanted participants to be engaged. I yearned for teachers to leave with new learning and insights.

I ended up setting up this session like a workshop, providing participants with choice and inviting them to make something meaningful. You can see my plan here. I designed this staff development session based on what I learned from Samantha Bennett, who graciously guided me in developing it. (To me, Sam Bennett and Cris Tovani's explanation and examples for how to plan for and instruct using a workshop model makes the most sense. Check out Sam's That Workshop Book and Cris' So What Do They Really Know? for more on workshop.)

In the first part of the session I invited teachers to read an array of professional materials about teaching writers. I shared resources from some of my favorite teacher authors, including Katie Wood Ray, Katherine Bomer, Ralph Fletcher, Nancie Atwell, Penny Kittle, and Kelly Gallagher. In addition, I provided books on writing by Stephen King, Anne Lamott, Georgia Heard, and Natalie Goldberg. Participants could select which resources to read and determine what pieces that they were the most interested in.

A few of the writing resources I shared with teachers. 

As teachers poured through materials, I asked them to collect golden lines, or lines that particularly resonated with them. After teachers collected golden lines, I instructed them to star or circle one or two of their favorite lines. Next, each teacher shared his or her top golden lines with a small group and later with the large group. Based on conversations they had with each other about their golden lines, teachers were invited to add lines they heard about from their colleagues to their own list.

Finally, I asked each participant to create a writing manifesto based on the collection of golden lines or ideas based on what they read. The idea was that if teachers could create a writing manifesto, then they could articulate their beliefs on best practices AND be able to support their beliefs with theory or research.

Prior to leading the staff development session, I created two samples to share with teachers. Below is my writing manifesto, based on a collection of golden lines from my favorite teachers of writers:

We live in the world as writers, searching for and capturing ideas for writing.

Writing is a process and by focusing on the process and habits of a writer, writing improves.

Good things happen when writers are able to articulate what they are doing and why.

The daily practice of craft sharpens the writer’s vision and tunes the writer’s voice.

The more you do it, the easier it becomes for you to continue to do it and the more you learn about how it gets done.

No matter where we start as writers, we can reach for more.

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I also wrote a poem as a different way to communicate my beliefs about writing. You can read it by visiting this post.

Collecting golden lines gave teachers the opportunity to write a manifesto similar to how someone would create a found poem. However, had the option to create his or her writing manifesto using any format desired. Honestly, the format didn't really matter. What mattered most was that teachers thought deeply about their practices in writing and how he or she synthesized that information in order to make positive change for writers.

At the end of the morning session, teachers shared their writing manifestos in small groups and a few shared in the large group. This led to a fantastic discussion about instructing writers. This was, by far, one of the most powerful staff development sessions that I have ever led. All of the high school and middle level teachers were engaged. Many commented that they appreciated making something that mattered to them. I encouraged all participants to hang their manifestos in their classrooms or where they plan as a reminder that our beliefs about teaching writers matter for planning.

Nearly two years later, both of my manifestos (my poem and my collection of golden lines) hang near my computer at school. They are daily reminders of what I strive to do as a teacher of writers.

Scary, Scary, Scary

Scary, Scary, Scary

“An experience isn’t finished until it’s written.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh

For the last three years (okay, five) I have been entertaining the idea of blogging. After all, I read blogs all the time. Blogs are a steady part of my reading diet, especially blogs about education and anything that involves literacy. Yet each time I think about writing posts in a blog, I talk myself out of it. I come up with excuses - lack of time, feeling like I have nothing to write about, not understanding enough about technology to blog, etc.

Recently, I realized something - I haven’t started blogging yet because I am scared. Really scared. The act of writing isn’t what scares me; I am in a solid routine of daily writing. It is publicly sharing my writing that paralyzes me.

In Fear, one of Elizabeth Gilbert’s chapters from Big Magic: Creative Living Among Fear (Riverhead Books, 2016), she includes a list of common fears that she believes prevents people from living a creative life. A few of these fears include:

• “You’re afraid you have no talent.”
• “You’re afraid you’ll be rejected or criticized or ridiculed or misunderstood or - worst of all - ignored.”
• “You’re afraid someone else already did it better.”
• “You’re afraid of being exposed as a hack, a fool, or a dilettante, or a narcissist.”
• “You’re afraid of what your peers and coworkers will say if you express your personal truths aloud.”  

When it comes to my writing, I face all of these fears. And more. Unfortunately, for the last few years, I have let this fear prevent me from sharing my writing except with a very small (and safe) group of people. Sadly, as an English teacher, I expect my students to write and share their writing in authentic and public ways. Yet, I have not done a very good job of modeling this for my students.

No more.

One of my core beliefs about writing instruction is that teachers who write are better teachers of writing. Therefore, my practices must match my beliefs. I need to write and publish like a teacher of writing. As Katie Wood Ray shares about the human side of writing in What You Know by Heart: How to Develop Curriculum for Your Writing Workshop (Heinemann, 2002), “...we ask our students to give so much of themselves when they write. We ask them to write about things that matter. We ask them to invest enormous amounts of time and energy to write about those things well. And then, the crowning request, we ask them to take their writing out into the world and give it to other people. We need to know how it feels to do what we are asking them to do. We need to understand the very human side of what we are teaching when we teach writing.” (Wow. It is as if Katie Wood Ray is speaking directly to me.)

I must do better this year.

And so, in fear and excitement, I begin this blog, not only to remember my human side as a teacher of writing, but in also sharing my experiences and beliefs in teaching.