Skip to main content

The Gift of Writing


As the school year begins, I happily return to my blog. Routine helps my writing habit, so here I am...excited to share!

 As each year begins, I share my love of writing and notebooks with my students. It's an idea I first got from Stacey Shubitz, a brilliant teacher! I get a notebook for each student and wrap it as a gift. It takes a long time to finish, especially as I teach over one hundred students now, but it's so worth it. The experience is memorable and the students know how much I value writing and the notebook. 

 This year I changed the routine a bit. Inside the notebook, I include a poem that I wrote for them...each student gets the poem from me taped onto the front page. I added something new. 

 At the end of last year, I asked my students to write words of wisdom or advice for the new students. THAT seemed to put the gift over the top for students this year. 


 The students guess what's in the wrapped package, a spiral notebook, but it doesn't matter. Even seventh-graders appreciate the time and effort put into the presentation. Once the students opened the gift, some of them got right to using the notebook, while others designed the covers. 

 I can't wait to see what this year brings! Whatever it is...we will write about in the pages of our notebooks!
Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Kathleen Neagle SokolowskiAugust 27, 2019 at 6:34 AM

    I am SO glad to see you back here, Michelle! I've really missed you in this space. I am so impressed with the time and expense this must all involve. It sends an extremely powerful message that the students are valued as well as the writing. I love that you included words of wisdom from past students. That is a brilliant idea! Wishing you the best in this new school year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erika VictorAugust 27, 2019 at 8:18 AM

    What an awesome way to start and I LOVE the words from your previous students! Lucky kiddos! I loved the video of the opening you shared.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stacey ShubitzAugust 27, 2019 at 4:14 PM

    I love that my post from long ago is still living on and touching other students' lives. (BTW: I got the idea from a teacher named Jen Barney. I thought it was brilliant!) Having a little note or poem tucked in makes it even nicer once that wrapping paper is removed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MaureenAugust 27, 2019 at 7:30 PM

    These notebooks are so beautiful! What an incredible touch, to add a poem. Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts. I love comments!

Popular posts from this blog

Here I Am

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking for the past couple of days about this post...but I can't think of anything to write. Frozen in my failure, I want to quit, but I push through and show up here...even though it seems pointless. Who wants to read a blog post about nothing?  I begin to panic a bit...Have I "lost it"? My passion for blogging? My ability to blog? Why can't I think of something clever? What do I have to say that anyone will want to read? (By the way, I'd have all of these answers if it was you asking the questions!) Should I quit? Give up? Accept defeat? NO.  Instead, I show up.  Instead, I remember the words I said yesterday to my seventh-graders,  "Show up. It gets easier." Instead, I write and show grace to myself. Instead, I remember that blogging is a muscle that I haven't stretched in a while and I need to warm up, I need to take some deep breaths. Here I am. Showing up to the page. I'...
17 comments
Read more

Someday...

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers . Do you have dreams? Kids are good at dreaming. I find many adults struggle with it. Speaking for myself, I get so caught up in the everyday drudgery of life, that dreams get nudged aside until they disappear.  It's important to have dreams. I've been writing about my dreams in my notebook and so I thought I'd share my dreams here... 1. Writing a book.  While I'd love to get a book published, my dream is to write a book...to complete the act of writing it.  I've started on this dream and it's hard and challenging and exciting and amazing.  2. Living at the beach.    I love the water, the waves, the ocean smell, the seafood, the sand...all of it! The Outer Banks is my favorite place in the...
23 comments
Read more

Chasing My Dream

I'm doing it. I'm chasing my dream. I've always wanted to run writing retreats and workshops for people, but I've always been too scared to do anything about it...until now. I don't know what's changed...maybe I've changed. I'm not allowing the fear to stop me anymore. I've started Selah Writing Retreats.  The past couple of weeks I've been getting the business end in order. I thought I would hate that...I don't. It's scary, but I am surprising myself with how efficient I am. Yesterday I went to a bank to set up a bank account. The woman I met with was kind and helpful and so enthusiastic about my dream. My website is set up. I've done lots of work on it. I hope you stop by and let me know what you think. It's  selahwritingretreats.com . Balancing creative with business has been challenging but fun. Creating the website, getting a federal tax id, making business cards, planning dates... My favorite voxer group is called Butt Ki...
21 comments
Read more