Inspiration!!!!!!!!!!

I'm wondering if anyone out there is feeling like I am. Being an English teacher, I'm a reader and writer at heart and chose to pursue a career where I could encourage these loves unto students. So when I read this book and perused the samples within, I felt a deep sense of guilt for not writing more myself and pursuing my original life's dream of becoming a published author.

I saw the way that Rief structured her Writer's-Reader's Notebook and immediately felt an urge to get out one of my many 3% full journals from a plastic bin buried deep within my closet and start writing (again). Forgive me for getting existential here for a bit, but in reality, when we leave this earth, all that will be left is the memories of us, and if we are so inclined, lucky, and motivated, our written word. (And the way things are going, an in-depth timeline on social media!) I feel it is irresponsible of me to neglect a daily journal for future generations to peruse. This may border on way too sentimental and even macabre, but in reality, I enjoy the thought that someday, my great-great-great grandchildren could read about my day, the way things were, and how I felt.

I think that, in the case of the W-RN, this is a small step toward achieving the goal of making a memory and truly making an impact on a student's life. When we get our students to dig deep and just write about their feelings, about a novel, article, event during lunchtime, birthday present, whatever, they are actually becoming skilled at writing, even if we aren't explicitly teaching this. I know that for me, the more I write, the better it becomes. Might I say "duh" to this. Because it's an age-old practice in ELA teachings to give students many opportunities to improve their written pieces with drafts, conferences, edits, you name it, so obviously the idea of writing--a LOT--can be so beneficial not only in writing skill/ability/quality, but in expressing oneself in all basic areas of communication. (Which, as we know and have discussed, translates to all subject areas and interests.)

My concluding feelings are thus: writing often is very important to me, even if I haven't been disciplined lately. I want to portray why I feel that writing is important in a way that won't scare off my students, or bore them, annoy them, etc...and I think that some version of the W-RN is a great way to do this.

I'm feeling the urge to model this importance, much like how Rief shows us with her own examples at the end of the Appendix. As a graduate student reading this, I'm overtly inspired to the point where I want to curl up on this chilly February Saturday and write until my fingers are numb. I think something similar might happen if my own students say my own writing modeled in such a way, so I am formulating ways to do this. No more "Ok, start writing your response," while I use that "quiet time" to check make-up homework and reply to an email or two. Why not show them my though processes while I write? Give them some inspiration, like Rief gave to me?

I vow to start this on Monday. I'll keep you posted.