Reflections on the Teche

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Into every day,
a cloud must come.
Here’s hoping all your clouds
are this filled with light.

How often do you post on social media?  Once a day?  Once a week?  Occasionally?

I am curious about what makes us connect and why some share more than others.  And when I read a post, on Facebook or Twitter, who am I really seeing?

If I am honest, I am a pretty free sharer of my life.  I probably post at least once a day on Facebook.  I’m not as active on Twitter or Instagram, but I have a presence there.  And then there’s this blog right here.

I am partial to my blogging space.  I feel safe here.  I open the draft and spill out onto the page whatever is on my mind.

I’ve been reading Katherine Bomer’s book The Journey is Everything: Teaching Essays That Students Want to Write for People Who Want to Read Them.   In Chapter 4, Living Like an Essayist,  Katherine makes a case for the Writer’s Notebook as a place to think and generate ideas.  While I am determined to give this a good shot next school year, trying it out myself was not easy.  I have gotten better and better at typing and backspacing, type, delete, copy, paste, highlight, spellcheck.

The notebook has lost some of its usefulness to me, at least for writing rough drafts.  I still take notes in a notebook and apparently this is good for my brain.  NPR posted an article about the advantages of hand-written notes in college. But unless I need those notes for something I am writing, they get lost in the pages of my notebook.

From this chapter, I gleaned five ways to make use of notebook time.  (I think I’ll call it Notebook Time in my classroom.)

1. Write daily for 12-15 minutes: Free writing that may lead to a good essay topic.
2. A thinking space for slow pondering, not rushing toward an end product.
3. Share notebook writing with a partner or small group.  Reading aloud what you have written can validate or deepen thinking.
4. Writing leads to more writing.  Ideas lead to ideas.  Allow for this free range thinking time.
5. Write what is true.  This space should be used to explore the deep dark corners of our lives.  Shake it all out.  Don’t write only what makes you look good. Be authentic on the page.

I truly believe in sharing our lives.  By putting our true selves out there, we can find connections in new and exciting ways.  As I read and think about what I want for my students, I am more convinced that writing your truth makes you a stronger person, reaches out to others, and creates a caring world community.

DigiLit Sunday will be on hiatus for the next 6 weeks as I will be traveling.  We will be back on July 31st.  Have a wonderful summer!

<!– start InLinkz script –>

<a rel=’nofollow’ href=”http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=640618″><img style=”border:0px” src=”http://www.inlinkz.com/img/wp/wpImg.png”></a&gt;

<!– end InLinkz script –>