Remember that group of kids I wrote about who I decided to take upstairs for weekly lunches on Tuesdays? Well, the five of us didn’t meet last week because the entire class watched the Inauguration instead. Hence, we met, after being “away from each other” for two weeks. (They’re in my class, but we haven’t met as a group, at lunchtime, in two weeks.) When I asked the kids to go around and share, TWO of the four kids, who were present last time, shared pieces they revised based on their peers’ comments from the previous Writing Luncheon. Wow!
One of the two girls who revised shared the piece she wrote about the way Tuesdays feel. (She had written about the way Sunday’s feel and, at our last Writing Circle, we encouraged her to write about all the days of the week and the way they feel, which is very “Seinfeld”-esque.) It was good… really good. It was chock-full of inner thinking and evidence that all of us (in the Writing Circle) connected to as she read it. Double wow!
Tomorrow’s her notebook checking day. However, due to the impending snow storm, I asked to check two of tomorrow’s kids today so I don’t feel inundated on Thursday. So, during my prep I read through her notebook. Not only did she write EVERY DAY during the past two weeks (this was a student who wasn’t writing much before the Writing Circle began), but she wrote about how every day of the week felt, on that day of the week, as per the group’s suggestions. Each piece was injected with humor, and more importantly, her voice. Triple wow!
Note: If you want to learn more about this student’s writing behaviors at the end of December, just one short month ago, then click here. She’s Student C in the Scribd Document — and oh, how she’s changed in just a few short weeks!
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 