Just WRITE

Today's post is brought to you by Jaimie Howe.

I have shared many things throughout my posts this year about being happy with the relationships I’ve built with staff, the amount of time I’ve been able to be in the classroom, etc, so I wanted to write about something different. I tried to think about how my mind has shifted this year, what I’m most passionate about currently, and what has been on my mind the most.  

Writing is what keeps popping up.  I’ve always understood and believed in the importance of writing, but have never truly put it at the top of my list.  As I reflect over the last year, my realization of the true importance of where writing fits in the puzzle we as educators face everyday, is what I celebrate.

It’s not that I haven’t known or recognized the importance of writing; I’ve just never been as passionate about it as I am now. I have come to a realization over the last month or two that writing is a huge component in  how we are going to help our students succeed.  There have been several instances over this past year that have lead me to this final overwhelming realization.

1st Instance, August 2013: First meeting with Literacy Booth Colleagues

I looked at the agenda for the two days we would be spending together and I saw A LOT of writing. I was a bit apprehensive since I haven’t always “loved” writing, but I went with it.  I guess I should have seen it coming; I mean I did know I was joining a group whose purpose was to create a blog - and what do bloggers do? They write.  So I don’t really know why I was so surprised.  :) Anyway, the whole idea here, is that in the end- it was the best two days of professional learning and collaboration I had ever had.  I was refreshed and knew more about myself as an educator than ever before.  I was pumped!  And it was truly because of all of the time I had to reflect in writing, which is something I never give myself the time to do.

Second Instance, January 2014: First Grade Target Time Group

A group of first grade students listened to an oral read aloud, did lots of shared and interactive writing with the teacher for a week or two and then started writing summaries on the text on their own.  Seems basic and simple.  The students pretty much just write.  Well, guess what, giving these students the opportunity to “just write” improved their writing tremendously.  Believe me, I taught first grade for almost five years and I have never seen such a large amount of first graders with the ability to write with the quality and quantity that this group can.  It is amazing!

Third Instance, February/March 2014: Second Grade Guided Reading Coaching

I was doing some modeling for a high second grade guided reading group.  The teacher was concerned about her students being able to reach the written component standard for the DRA assessment that we give to students in our district.  So in my lessons with the students, we wrote.  We wrote before we read, during our reading, and after.  Believe me, the students can write about what they read.  They haven’t taken the assessment yet, but I know from what I’ve observed, they will do great.

Fourth Instance:, April 2014: Work on District Writing Vision

This spring I have been working with a small group of literacy coaches in my district looking at our current writing program.  We have been developing a vision and really looking at the research that supports writing instruction.  I cannot believe how overwhelmingly, the amount of time spent writing, came up.  Almost every book or article and every researcher somewhere stated that students need to write EVERY DAY and we need to have at least 45 minutes to an hour EVERY DAY for writing (not including all of the writing we may be doing in other subject areas).

All of these instances finally came together this spring.  The amount of growth I’ve witnessed this year due to time spent writing and the validation from all of the research I was reading sparked the light bulb. It’s funny because really I’ve already known this, but it has never really come to the forefront of my thinking until now.  There have been so many instances this year that have “shouted” at me “WRITE MORE, WRITE MORE, WRITE MORE!”  that I’ve finally taken the time to stop and think about it. The new state tests, Common Core - everything is screaming WRITING. The thing about writing, too, is that yes of course, if you write more, you will get better; however, writing is connected to so many things.  By writing, the students (and myself) in my scenarios above have not only become better writers; they became better readers, better thinkers, and better problem solvers as well.  In addition, these kids actually don’t mind writing now. They get excited about it and it’s easy for them because they do it every day.