When I grow up....

I have a secret. I've always wanted to be a writer. However, other than this blog, I really don't do much writing.

Yesterday I subbed in a Gr. 4 classroom. The truth is, the plans had changed since they had booked me and when I arrived they had quite forgotten I was coming. They quickly scrambled around to find a couple teachers that needed a little time away from their classroom, and whipped up a quick assignment. I ended up doing a writing lesson for a Grade 4 class. The teacher came to me and verbally gave me the gist of what they wanted to happen during the class - and off I went. My first thought was, "You can't just ask kids to whip up a story in one hour." However, that was the assignment so off I went with it.

It was an interesting exercise. They wrote in pairs. Some started by making a plan, some simply started writing, some discussed and then wrote, and some couldn't get past the discussing to get something down. It really made me miss my days at Global Learning Academy with our Community of Learners approach. The kids there would write every morning. There were no rules about what they were to write about - they just wrote. At first they didn't know what to write, but it wasn't long until they really didn't need any direction and would just come in, sit down, and write - and they loved it. Our desks were all in a circle and sometimes one student would stand and ask for everyone's attention because they needed ideas, or just wanted to share, or just didn't know what to write about. I hardly said anything to the class as a whole during those times. The kids would ask and answer questions and it all worked beautifully. I really miss those days!

And it makes me think, how could I get my own Community of Learners, so that I can work on my own writing skills....hmmm...

If you have any ideas let me know!