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.
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September 2020
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