Teachers as writers teaching students as writers

I sit here preparing to fine tune two writing units for second quarter. As I schedule mini lessons and plans conference days and find places to provide time to write- I think about me as a writer. Yesterday, I shared a post about learning to love myself despite, or maybe because of, my flaws. I'd written it weeks ago and revised it Friday night. The post was personal...very personal. I found myself checking and rechecking for at least one positive comment. Thankfully, many people read my post from yesterday and I received amazing feedback, but it was a risk for me.

What do we ask of our students? We ask them to write and share. A LOT! We ask them to write personal stories and we ask them to make up stories and to research things and write about that. We ask them to write and revise and share and conference and edit....everyday. Are we willing to do that? Do we remember the fear of rejection? Yesterday brought all those feelings back for me. It changed how I'll conference with them...always, always, always starting with what worked in their writing. Everyone can find a golden line in a piece of writing.

Why am I writing?
I'm writing for me.
I'm writing to reflect and become a better teacher.
I'm writing because I love it.
And now I realize that I'm writing for my students...so they have a teacher who remembers what it feels like to put yourself out there with your writing.

Do you write?
Why?

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