Reflecting on this semester

 Writing has become to mean more to me than it has at anytime in my life/ career. And here I find myself with one of my last assignments...writing a reflection about writing that reflected my thoughts at the time. Woah.

This semester was a challenge to say the least. Finding time to eat and sleep was hard enough, let alone doing work for grad school. When I found out that I would have to do extra writing outside of class, I will be honest, I was less than pleased. At first, I thought it was because I didn't have time to write and this would take me away from doing work for other classes or for my job. Looking back, I wasn't happy about it because I was scared.

I was scared to put myself out there! Scared to take a risk! Scared to be judged by my peers (and professor)! I thought that what I had to say would be rendered meaningless to others. I've always been somewhat gutsy and I told myself that if I was going to "do this," I had to "really do it." So I took a chance... and my peers and professors liked what I had to say! That feeling, of having a comment on my blog or having a classmate tell me they enjoyed my piece really meant a lot to me.

Then it hit me... why don't I do more "sharing" with my students? I started sharing my writing, and as a result, they wanted to share theirs. I let go of needing the work to be perfectly punctuated and grammatically correct, because really, writing isn't perfect.

Dudley-Marling and Paugh stated, "Teachers who do not write themselves may have difficulty appreciating the struggles of novice writers. They may be more likely to insist on a writing process for all students, such as demanding that all writing be revised... It will always be difficult for anyone who does not write to be an effective teacher of writing." (Dudley-Marling & Paugh, 11)

Wow. Rereading this tonight once again hit me like a ton of bricks! I must write more to be more effective... it is a causal relationship.

Writing was never "my thing" and truthfully, I would rather curl up with a good book than write. However, if it will make me a better teacher, then you better believe I will write!!!

My New Year's Resolution this year was to try and read for leisure as often as possible. Thus far, I have done that and couldn't be happier. I want to make an "End of the Semester/Grad School Resolution(s):" 

1)Write more!!!

2) Give my kids CHOICE (even if it isn't allowed!)

3) Let them do an essay and don't correct them for spelling and grammar...look at their ideas

4) share, Share, SHARE... let the students read their pieces