Right Beside Writers {CELEBRATE This Week: 177}

I'm glad you are here to celebrate! 

Share a link to your blog post below and/or use #celebratelu to share celebrations on Twitter. Check out the details here. Celebrate This Week goes live on Friday night around 10(ish). Consider it as a weekend celebration. Whenever it fits in your life, add your link. 

Please leave a little comment love for the person who links before you.

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This place, 

right beside writers,

is where I 

watch 

and 

notice.

This place 

is where I 

celebrate 

and 

nudge 

growth.

This place, 

usually on my knees 

and 

always with a servant's heart

is the

one 

place 

where I always feel 

like I'm doing what 

I was made to do.

Helping others write 

what 

matters 

most. 

I'm pretty sure, 

in some small way, 

I will 

change 

the 

world.

I posted this picture and some of these words on Instagram. A former student left me a comment: I still hear your questions echo in my ear as I write. Sometimes it feels like you are right there next to me.

Her words have followed me around all day. It's been a dozen years since she sat on the floor of my 7th grade classroom, under the chalkboard, back against the wall with her notebook balanced on her knees.

I didn't know then that I spent my days in a sanctuary. We wrote in our notebooks. We read books cover to cover. We talked and laughed and teased and tried and failed. And in the end, we all became writers. 

I dedicated my first book to them. 

Because the truth is, sometimes when I kneel next to another writer, I still feel like they are right there next to me. 

*********

How to stop hearing I CAN'T WRITE from your students

“I can’t write!”

“I don’t know how!”

“I’ll never be able do this!”

These aren’t the usual quotes to inspire teaching students to write. I could share adorable student writing samples. I could tell stories of successful writing experiences with kids. We could celebrate the small gains of less experienced writers.

None of that changes the fact that more than likely, you still encounter I CAN’T writers.

They might be lurking in the corner of your writing workshop. Maybe they’ve been putting on a good show, but their stamina is waning and they refuse to write sometimes. Sometimes the I CAN’T writer is loud and is looking for others to join the protest.

No matter their modus operandi, all I CAN’T writers need the same thing.

Confidence.

When students refuse to write, it is because they lack confidence in themselves as writers. It is easy to pinpoint students who need confidence as writers, however, it isn’t always an easy need to fill.

We build confidence in students as writers when we build on their strengths. Sometimes this is a tall task, because most I CAN’T writers are a hot mess when it comes to writing. How do we build on strengths when the strengths are non-existent?

Tweet: "We build confidence in students as writers when we build on their strengths." Ways to boost student writers. http://bit.ly/2fwtyTp

Shift Your Mindset

Look for what students are almost doing as writers. Does the I CAN’T writer have some supplies out and ready to use? Is the I CAN’T writer sitting in a good writing spot? Does the I CAN’T writer make it easy for other students to work as writers? Has the I CAN’T writer written a handful (or one or two) words?

When we begin acknowledging the small steps of student writers, we build their confidence. Rather than seeing how far they are from grade level, begin to train yourself to see the things they are doing to position themselves to learn to write.

Take Off the Pressure of Words on the Page

In today’s world, writing is more than words on the page. With more multi-modal messages, students must learn to write using words, images, and sound. Sometimes I CAN’T writers struggle writing words, but they are able to articulate their stories or articles orally. Many I CAN’T writers are willing to sketch an idea and get their thoughts in order. When a student tells me “I can’t write!” I often ask them to talk or sketch their ideas instead. It is always easier to help a student write words when we’re working off of something concrete than when the idea is floating around brain space.

Instead of seeing I CAN’T writers, let’s start seeing NEED A BOOST writers and do things to build confidence. The more confident students become as writers, the more they are willing to write.

I’d love to hear what you do to boost confidence in your student writers. Join the conversation here!