I read All Are Welcome yesterday and we talked about our classroom being a safe space in the school where they should all feel at home, feel safe. I shared that The Lightning Thief is one of my favorite books and told them how Riordan came up with the story. We talked about his son's struggle to feel successful at school with ADHD and dyslexia. I saw some nods.
Today I shared I Want My Hat Back and we laughed. I book talked Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy and several scribbled it on to their "to read" lists. Then I told them I wanted them to write a essay entitled Who Am I? that tells me what I need to know about them. To inspire them to tell their stories I shared that I had a video I wanted them to watch. I said it was about an actor that I have a crush on, but that my husband was ok with that. They laughed. None of them knew Jason Momoa's name, but when I said he was in Justice League, many shouted out Aquaman. I congratulated them on knowing me so well already that they could guess which actor it was.
We watched this video of Jason's that through the power of story, shares who he is with us. We let the words float over the classroom, then watched a bit again. This time we noted what we learned about Momoa from this movie. Then we jotted down what we wanted to share about ourselves.
As they began their blogs, I walked around and helped. There were several who struggled to begin, knowing the feel they wanted, but not how to achieve it. We had reminders on some overall writing rules. Then, in my last class, I had them pause. I asked how many had writing come easy to them. A handful of kids raised their hands. Then I asked how many had an inner voice that told them that their writing was horrible. Hands tentatively shot up. I reminded them that I'm trying to write a book and I told them every day I sit to write, my inner voice tells me that my writing is no good. I shared that her name was Helga and I often tell her to go away, but she keeps returning. And then I shared the secret, that you just have to keep writing anyway.
As we wrapped up for the day, I continued walking around, rubbing shoulders, checking to see if I knew everyone's name. One of the kids came over to me to show his first paragraph and then said, "I can't wait to come back tomorrow." Kind words, sweet writers, relationship foundations being established...it is going to be a good year.
Oh, and if you're ever having a bad day, watching Jason Momoa's Canvas of My Life multiple times throughout the day can make it a great one. Sigh.
