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