Schoolwide Blog Entry
Elisa Waingort
Feb. 17, 2010

    As a teacher of writing, I hope that all of my students will think of themselves as writers by acting like writers.  And, how do writers act?  Here’s my short list:
•    A writer is always writing even when she doesn’t have a pencil or laptop at hand.  
•    A writer loves to talk about what she is writing now and what she might write about next.
•    A writer is always planning the next piece of writing as she is finishing a project.  Sometimes the writer plans “in her head” and sometimes she plans on paper.  
•    A writer takes notes for future pieces and stores them in a place that she can easily access.  
•    A writer writes every day for different purposes.
•    A writer finds ideas for writing in everyday situations and in books.
•    A writer enjoys the act of thinking about ideas and topics for future pieces of writing.  
•    A writer sometimes gets stuck and doesn’t know what to write about; she keeps writing anyway.

I am also hopeful that a year of writing in my class will change my students in some way.  I know, I know.  You’re probably thinking, “You teach grade 2 - six- and seven-year-olds.  Get a grip.  That’s just too much to expect.”  Yet, I have seen this happen in the past.  It is a subtle transformation that, unless you’re looking for it or attentive to what children say to you or what they do, you may just miss.  Yet, it is a change nonetheless.  
I have a student this year, Judy (not her real name), who joined my lunchtime writing club last year for a brief time.  After a few weekly experiments she “quit”.  This year Judy is in my grade 2 classroom.  The children write every day on self-selected topics ,and try out techniques or topics in their writing notebooks that they might not otherwise do on their own.  Lately her conversations with me demonstrate the transition she has undergone since the beginning of the year.  Here’s another short list:
•    Judy tells me about the writing she does at home.
•    Judy has a couple of notebooks at home that she writes in for different purposes.
•    Judy considers feedback or suggestions I give her for her writing.
•    Judy is starting to distinguish personal (for me) writing and writing that is shared publicly.
•    Judy is recognizing that some topics she doesn’t want to write about.
•    Judy sometimes uses her weekend news notebooks to talk about books she read on the weekend.
•    Judy is starting to recognize the potential of topics that come out of her everyday life, such as her relationship with her younger twin brothers.
•    Judy is disappointed when our schedule changes and we have to sacrifice writing workshop.
I hope some of you reading this post will share your short lists about writing.