A Good Reminder

How vain is it to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. — Henry David Thoreau

In my 9th grade class, we are moving into a narrative writing unit this week.  I ran across this Thoreau quote tonight and thought it was a good reminder.  I hope to support my students in choosing meaningful stories to write, thinking about the times they have “stood up to live.” 

Sometimes students think they haven’t lived enough to write.   They believe their lives are too boring, too ordinary, too simple to be able to write well.  I hope to reveal to them these simple, ordinary moments make for excellent stories.

Tomorrow I’m going to share this story with them to show how to write about an ordinary moment.  I believe it is these small moments which add up to the big meaning of life.