It's a new semester and a new group of students participating in Write Whatcha Want Wednesday (#WWWW), and I'm beyond excited.
Given an authentic audience, freedom, and time, my students radiate brilliance. More students created themed blogs this semester, so the students are really getting a chance to show off their passions. Some examples: Kenny is writing about survival. Morgan is writing about tattoos. Thor is writing about all science-related topics. Jayden is writing about a fictional trip around the world. Shaelyn is exploring her faith. You can follow along with all of our blogs using this Symbaloo.
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Nov. 9: What is one way you could develop the Attitude of Gratitude in your classroom or school? Try it out and let us know how it went in a couple of weeks.
As I've shared before on this blog, my College Comp students are participating in Write Whatcha Want Wednesdays (#WWWW) on their own personal blogs. This month I want them to focus on at least one blog post on a theme of gratitude. They will Write Whatcha Want With Thanksgiving; it might be a list of thanksgiving, a published thank-you note, a short story on gratitude, etc. That will be happening before our Thanksgiving break, and I'll be sure to share some of our results here. I will also continue with my postcards. If I want my students to express gratitude, then I must lead by example. And now for some personal gratitude. This weekend I got away with my family. Good sushi, Ethiopian food, time RELAXING. I am recharged and ready for another happy week. I came here today to tell you that #WWWW has been a smashing success and because of my brilliant idea, I have now been inducted into every imaginable Teachers Hall of Fame. The new addition at our high school is actually going to be named after me. Except it's not. We're four weeks into Write Whatcha Want Wednesday. Really, I love it, but as is true with all great teaching ideas, I have encountered a few downfalls. Want to take a guess at the #1 disadvantage? Here's a hint: It's pretty much always the #1 reason we avoid trying new things in our classroom. Drumroll please....... TIME. It is hard to give my students enough time to engage completely with their blogs. Our Wednesday class periods are shortened already, and then by the time we do our usual freewriting, word work, mini-lessons, and announcements, I can usually give them approximately 19 minutes for Write Whatcha Want Wednesday. So I guess it's turned into Write Whatcha Want Wednesday (ataveryhurriedpace). I plan to address that next week. Because this is important to me, I need to give time for them to process as well as produce. Still, they are creating some masterpieces, rushed or not. I can't wait to share a few with you. I'll start by sharing our Symbaloo. Here you can find links for all of their blogs together. They haven't all selected an image to represent their blog yet, but the links are all stored in one location at least. And it's prettier than a list in a Google Doc. And now for a few week #4 highlights. I've mentioned her before, but over at Mallory's Musings she writes about the "lasts" experienced as a senior in high school. I think we all can relate. "As my All-State Honor Band auditions are rapidly approaching, it is becoming more apparent to me that this is my last year to do a lot of things that I love. Being a senior in high school is really fun and exciting, but soon I will have to leave every thing I know. Sports, speech, music, friends. It's all becoming very real, very fast." You also want to check out Finding Cynthia Vance. This student is sharing her personal journey of searching for a biological aunt who was placed for adoption as an infant. Each week she adds a new chapter. As an adoptive mom, I'm fascinated to watch this story unfold. Sprinkles McTurnip uses a random word generator each week to find a subject for a short short story. Last week's "Fleas" was clever as is this week's "Cheque," written entirely as dialogue. "Good afternoon. Your total is $354.43. Will you be paying with cash, card, or cheque?" "I'm sorry, what was the last one?" Over at Cory's Corner, she shares her experience giving back at a homeless shelter in Sioux City. I love how candid she is in describing her awakening process. "All my life I've just kinda went along with the stereotypical reason that people are homeless because they have an addiction which has taken over their lives. After serving and working alongside some of the homeless people my thoughts have changed. Each one of us can become homeless in the blink of an eye. We never know when disaster or tragedy will strike leaving us without the necessary amount of money to provide for ourselves." Finally, check out Kaycee's Kadence. Each week she shares a recent obsession (this week: skinny jeans) and a musical pick. She also gives some good publicity for our fall musical, Bye Bye Birdie. "I absolutely love musicals... I have for years now.... Not only being in them, but watching and singing along. Well I think that everyone should watch at least a few musicals in their lifetime." So maybe our hashtag isn't trending yet. Maybe their blog stats aren't through the roof. Maybe that's not what it's about. My students are writing about their passions and with voice. And that, my friends, is what #WWWW is all about. I have a confession to make: I would have hated #WWWW as a student. When I was a 10th grade Biology student, Mr. Freed accused me of being an "academic prostitute." In other words, I would do whatever it took to get an A. And he was right. For me at that time, it was less about learning and more about my GPA. Write Whatcha Want Wednesday would have paralyzed me. "Just tell me what to do!" I would have whined. That grade-infatuated girl is long behind me, but I do empathize with the students who fear the freedom that #WWWW gives them. I completely understand that this type of writing assignment will not be everyone's favorite, so for those students I do provide a list of suggested prompts. Several of them use those prompts and still produce strong, voice-filled writing. Mallory's Musings, for example, provides a beautifully simple list of happiness.
Other students are taking the freedom and running with it. Over at Just Josiah, a blog dedicated to travels, we learn about the beauty of Hawaii. "Though the sights are magnificent, it's the culture and way of life of Kauai's people that truly captures my heart and makes it impossible to let go." Jake the Snake provides a weekly recap of football here in Northwest Iowa. "We got on the board when I kicked a 16 yard field goal to put us up 3-0, then I caught a touchdown pass thrown by Matt Eckard. And after that right before halftime I kicked a 50 yrd field goal, a personal best in a game." One of the most unique blogs comes in the creative characters at "Are You Going To Finish That Croissant?" "Hello my name is Sylvester Black, the perfect combination of both Sylvester Stallone and Jack Black. While not being an expendable pawn for my military superiors, I am a music teacher at a very nice school." Finally, That One Blog offers some (ironic?) advice about writer's block. "Have you ever not known what to write about? Don't lie, we all have. Today is one of those days for me. I cannot, for the life of me, think of a single topic to write about. It's even hard for me to write about how I have nothing to write about." I have another confession to make: I am so very proud of the writing that we're producing through #WWWW. I do my best thinking in the shower and in my dreams. The title for my blog came to me in a dream. I had been thinking for awhile about starting a teaching blog. When my husband and I started our adoption process a few years ago, I started a personal blog. I made some of my closest adoptive mom friends through that blog while also honing my writing skills. That blog dissipated for various reasons, but I found myself missing the blogging experience, the intentional audience and purpose. For the past few years I've had my College Composition students create their own personal blogs, and this fall I decided I needed to blog with them. But what to call it? Titles and names are, after all, very important. And then my dream. I had a teaching blog called Teach Happy. It fit my teaching philosophy, and it was simple. So here I am. My idea for #WWWW came in the shower. My grandfather had just died, and I was thinking of family memories I would like to capture in writing. (He had a way of saying, "Well, Kim!" that made me feel like the only person in the room.) I was lamenting the fact that I rarely get time to write for myself while being a full-time teacher and a full-time mom. I soon realized that my students probably feel the same way. While I provide lots of choice in terms of genre and topic, students rarely get complete freedom with their writing. "Why not give it to them?" I thought. They can still achieve academic objectives through this writing, and maybe, just maybe, they will learn to enjoy it a bit more. So Write Whatcha Want Wednesday (#WWWW) was born. Each student has created and designed his/her own blog. Students are blogging about sports, music interests, pet peeves, and random teenage drama. It's authentic writing for an authentic audience, and we would love for you to join us. I'll soon share some of their links here. Join us in the #WWWW movement. Let's get our hashtag trending! |
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September 2020
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