Student Writing

My students have been blogging since the end of October about why they write. What started out as a class assignment, has grown into a place for my students to channel their emotions and their ideas. As I sit at my dining room table with a cup of tea, a holiday candle burning, I have tears sliding down my face, sometimes silently and sometimes loudly as I can't hold them back. These are the words of my eight graders. These are the words of the next generation. These are the words of a young people needing guidance, asking for help, and yet filling me with hope.

Why does she write?

 I also write when my mind is full, a lot i will over think something and people

dont really get why i am over thinking this.

Why doesn't she write?

Also i feel like that my writing might be to strong for my age and that i should not write it.

She Writes:

You stare in the mirror

You see everything that's wrong

Not the good things

You look down and up at yuorself

feeling a tear running down your face

one thousand more follow

You think your body has to be everything

Not your personality

Why do you care if you’re not the thinnest?

The makeup that you wear is just to hide your feelings

Why does it matter what you look like?

Why do you let yourself feel so lost and hid away

You should drop the way your acting

Your body makes you

Why does he write?

Sometimes I write to take my mind off the real world. Sometimes I write to immerse myself in a world that doesn't exist. Maybe I like to find myself in a world that I rule or something similar to that. bring out my imagination. In a way its kind of healthy to write. 

He Writes:

The lights in the sky twinkle and shine

These lights I wish they were mine

They seem so close

They shine so bright, full of might

ready to explode

They definitely glowed

oh it would feel so right

to be with those stars that fantastic night.

Why doesn't he write?

I'm sitting here trying to write.

When i'm givin something to write, my mind goes blank.

Sometimes I just cant think of anything.

I think about the next subject i'm going to.

I cant concentrate on what i'm supposed to do.

I sometimes think about what everybody else is writing about.

But I can never seem to do my own work.

Because I never seem to understand.

Creating a web about my interests.

Gave me an idea on what to write about...

#whyiwrite

     When I first began this project, I didn't know what to expect. I knew what I wanted out of it: the ability to write creatively, and the ability to make a difference by pushing my students out of their comfort zones.  
     I fulfilled my end of the assignment by writing, but also paying attention to when I wrote. I found that by studying my writing habits, I could become a stronger writer. This comes from research done at Teacher's College, where they discussed that in order to build reading habits, you needed to first study the ones you already have. I am fully a devoted reader, judging the purse I carry by whether or not I can fit a book in it. However, I am not a committed writer in those regards, so that's where I began. 
    What I found was that I enjoy writing most when I wake up early, before anyone in my apartment, and I go outside with a cup of coffee, maybe a blanket if it's cold, and I just write. I love the serenity of being able to think without any interruptions, without the hustle and bustle of every day. I love the calm that comes with knowing most people aren't awake, and of course the coffee helps to awaken my mind. You can also find me with my laptop along with my notebook and about four or five different pens, in case one runs out. I love to jot down my ideas on paper, as there is a more personal connection. When writing poetry, I am more connected to my words through the extension of my arm, like my pen is an extension of my brain, translating my ideas into written form. I then like to type my poetry as a means of refining it. As I type, I am more able to catch my mistakes. Maybe because typed feels more like a "published" piece-I'm not sure. I do love to draft my narrative on the computer. Since I am writing more, I prefer to be able to type. Plus I feel incredibly studious as I sit at a computer typing away and hearing the click clack of my nails against the keys. My best friend is a composer of music and I love watching his hands fly over those keys, whereas I am a composer of words. My laptop. His piano.
     
     I found that I write for a lot of reasons: because it's fun, because it allows me to stretch my creative muscles, because I can be anyone or do anything when writing. Most importantly I found that I write when I'm upset or confused. I am a very deep and sensitive soul, as I've always been told. It has taken me in the last few recent years to come to terms with the fact that that is not a negative characteristic. For most of my life, I felt there was something wrong with me. Why did I cry at everything? Why couldn't I argue with someone without bursting into tears and having them think I'm "too emotional" for this. It took years of work, and countless more ahead of me, to fully accept that that's just who I am. But I am working on it. I am learning to realize that being sensitive is not a hindrance but a blessing. That I can use it to better myself, but like any empath and their emotions, I need to control mine. I could let my sensitivity run away with my sense of awareness and take me down the "rabbit hole" of overthinking and over feeling to the point of not being in reality anymore. 

     While I love that through writing I can find my true center and self, it also scares me. There have been times where I've picked up my journal and put it back down: thinking to myself "I'm not ready to explore that" or "It hurts too much to write it down". I'm afraid that I will shy away from writing, poetry and journaling specifically. But hey-isn't the first step being aware?



     The second part of this project was about making a difference with my students. Dealing with 8th graders can be challenging, and their eagerness to share diminishing. I hoped that through implementing this project that I could push them to explore the deep person that they are-like I felt I needed in 8th grade. They're going through so much at this point in their life that is going to shape who they become later on. They are by no means "stuck" with the choices they make, however they are forever ingrained in their story. My goal was to provide a safe outlet for students to explore issues maybe a little too close to home. I wanted to give them the opportunity to work through issues in their life, either at home or in school and have an outlet for their frustrations or their success. After introducing the assignment, one student told me that she's so excited to start this process because she keeps so much bottled up inside and she feels like she needs to start expressing herself before she explodes. This student has chosen to write a moving story about a broken family. Whether it is a reflection of her life or a reflection of something dear to her, she is being expressive.  While we are only two weeks into this assignment, I have found that students are writing. They are journaling, writing poetry, beginning stories, which was also the focus of this project-to get them to write. We have six more weeks of this project (as we are using this as a second writing project for second marking period) and at the end, I plan to assess how far students have come in their desire to write. I am hopeful that they will have gained some insight into when and why they write, along with having helped them deal with some issues along the way.

Words of the Wiser

Just like Mufasa...Check out these wise words about our writing!

“I do not like to type my writing, I usually prefer writing down on paper…you can get more connected to your writing by how you write it with your hands.”

“I write to say things that I would never say in person”

“When you are reading, you are on their turf, but when you write, you got the ball because it's your court.”

“Maybe because a lot of times when I write, especially when I write a paper for school, I always overly think you know, is it good??

“I can always remember every second of each and every memory that I write. Sometimes I don't enjoy writing at all and Id rather watch paint dry.”

“I also like writing about scary or creepy stories because

I like to see what i'm capable of.”

“To have fun, to escape, to entertain, and to just be myself.”

“It´ś like there is something keeping me from doing what I want to do.”

“Pose philosophical questions I have about the world”

I am blown away by my students' reasons for writing. I wasn't sure what my expectations were, or what they'd come up with, but I'm thankful that they pushed yourselves to really think about why they write. They all pushed yourselves to give more than one-word answers.

Dear students:

You were funny, you were thoughtful, and you were real.

So regardless of what you do next, you are successful.

Why I Write?

When I first began to think about why I write I immediately thought that I have no idea. I don't write nearly as much as I wish I did, truthfully. So while I can't answer that, I can answer why I read.

I read for enjoyment. To experience different worlds. To travel to different places. To learn about others and to learn how others deal with the same issues I face. Or to avoid those issues-I read to escape. To get away from being me for a change or to not feel so lonely sometimes.

And ya know what? The more I thought about why I read, the more I realized that I write for the same reasons.

I write to keep my brain from getting to stale. I'm terribly afraid of one day waking up and not being able to be creative, and because of that, I write to keep that creativity coming. Some days I'm terrified by how little creativity I have, and other days I'm thoroughly impressed.

Somedays I journal. My friend introduced me to the importance of journaling and then I went out and bought a beautiful (overpriced) journal from Barnes & Nobles. Journaling helps me make sense of my feelings. Last year I moved out of my childhood home and began living with two friends, which sounds great but is also super challenging. I couldn't deal with it and would fight with them and then feel pretty awful and then be happy I was living with them but then hated it at the same time. It was a roller coaster and I was exhausted. I couldn't make sense of what I was feeling or what was happening and felt like I was losing control a little bit. So I would journal about it to make sense of it. And it helped. I was nervous that writing may make me over think things, but instead it made things more clear.

I also write slams for the same reason. There's something to slam poetry that lets you release ALL your emotions whatever they are, that I don't get from regular poetry. It allows me to be angry or sad or deep or funny all at the same time. Maybe I'll even post some of my slams on here? I was fighting with my mom and wrote one about her. Needless to say, I didn't read that one to her.

I write to make people laugh! Has anyone laughed reading this? No? Maybe even in your head or a little chuckle or half smile? Oh well.

I also write to express whatever I'm dealing with at the time. I have a bit of OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, and it can get pretty annoying from time to time. Sometimes I'll write about a character who struggles with this, or sometimes I'll write a slam about it. Whatever the writing, I write to "get over it" or deal with it.

We all write for different reasons. Those are just a few of mine. But whatever the reason, I enjoy it!

What is the #whyiwrite project?

The #whyiwrite project started out as the bare minimum of an idea generated in my first ever graduate class. We were told to create a project, centered around writing, that involved all ten of our interest AND made some type of difference in the world.

I had no idea what my professor meant. How was I suppose to make a difference with my writing? There are also nine other students in the class, all from different backgrounds who want to do so many different things. Truth be told, I didn't think we'd figure it out. But as I was Pinterest-ing different writing ideas, I came across a link to Genius Hour and I remembered Mrs. Morales's class working on this last year. They were amazing! I did a little more research on what Genius Hour is and then thought about how could I modify the idea to fit our class. What I came up with is part of the #whyiwrite project-a project where my classmates can all answer the question Why I write? in their own way.

But then I had to think about the last part of the project: How do I make a difference? Well thinking back to last year and where I felt I made a difference in my class was when I taught Slam Poetry. It was wildly successful and my students blew my mind with how open and honest they were. They shared some deeply personal issues and were not afraid to put themselves out there. I've never seen 8th graders so willing to be raw and it paid off big time.

I know it's not an easy thing to share our life stories, but I think it helps us more than we realize. That's where I'm hoping I can make a difference, but helping my students explore issues that they deal with every day, but through writing about it. Not journaling necessarily, but maybe through Slams, or through stories, or through  cartoons, whatever it may be. My hope is to create a community where we can share our stories and help each other deal.

Below I've posted the Do Now my class will follow, along with the handout they'll receive!
Do Now
#whyiwrite Handout