February Challenge

I've tried to write in journals regularly and the result is A LOT of journals with a little bit of writing in each one. When I try to find something I remember writing I have to dig through many journals trying to remember when and where that writing took place. For my February challenge I am going to try to do daily writing on this blog.

A few educators who I admire because of their ability to get me to write and the amazing writing they get from their students are right next to me whispering, "if you want to teach writing you have to write." If I want to inspire children and colleagues I have to experience what I'm asking them to do. A sentence starter or story starter (whatever you want to call it) is not writing. It is filling in a blank or two to get a grade. I want children and adults I work with to write from their hearts, share their words, revisit their work, and be proud! It's important that I trust that our youngest (and oldest) writers can face a blank piece of paper and end up with something they want to revisit, share, hide, cry over, laugh over, and bask in its beauty.

Now it is time for me to embark on a month of writing in one place! As I thumb through my many journals and read some of my writing I am reminded of memories I've written about and taken back to a time that I felt was worth memorializing in words. Some are silly and some are sad. What is most frustrating is remembering something I've written and wanted to revisit it but I can't find it in the many pages of the many journals! I can beat myself up and give up or just accept that this is who I am and move forward. I'll move forward. . .

While thumbing through my journals looking for a piece that I wrote from a memory of my Uncle Mac I found writing related to my mom's death, my dad's stubbornness, my third grade teacher who looked like Katie from "My Three Sons," and many pieces about my grandparents. In most cases family was the common denominator. For my challenge I am going to choose one piece from one of the journals and expand on it or see where it takes me as a launching pad. Stay tuned as I try to stay on course and navigate through a month of writing on this blog (all in one place!).