Launching the Writer's Workshop

Last week, PUSD kicked off the school year with staff development that focused on launching Lucy Calkins Common Core Writer's Workshop and Units of Study. Teachers discussed and collaborated about how to teach writing. How to spend time writing every day. How to become writers with the children. And how important it is to be a writer in order to be a teacher of writing. It is an exciting time. It will take a lot of hard work, commitment, and dedication. But it is so necessary to help our young people find their own voice within the walls of a time in which they are constantly saturated with information.  

I was inspired today when a collegue forwarded this YouTube clip of Lucy Calkins speaking about writing.    

"Read your writing like it's gold. And listen to your classmates writing. Listen to your own writing. And let it make the world of difference. It can change your world." ~Lucy Calkins

I was also inspired by our keynote speaker, Lisa Highfill. She addressed the need to engage and inspire the curousity in our students. She started with this YouTube clip of two babies playing with a rubber band. They giggle, explore, and try to place the rubber band on a kitchen cabinet knob.  

What the video reminds us is that curiousity is the purest form of learning and exploring. As a teacher, it is our responsibility to facilitate activities that promote this pure kind of learning and development. Hilarious! I could stop giggling myself when I watched these babies. 

Monday is the first day of school. I am trying to "Live like a Writer" and take a moment to remember what inspired me before the chaos of fall. Hope to keep up this inspiration all year.