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Friday, October 14, 2022

Teacher Writers-Awakeners of Learning

With an enthusiastic, upbeat attitude I looked forward to my first keynote address on Zoom last night. I had been preparing for the Reading Specialists Council of Suffolk professional development program for weeks with the topic of Teacher Writers, Awakeners of Learning. As a writer, I felt the jitters of vulnerability. I was placing my years of study on this topic in the hands of my audience. Could I deliver my thoughts in a forty-five-minute session? 

I did and this morning, I woke to the quiet of a "Second-Summer" October day and peace in my heart. I accomplished my task last night, delivering a presentation, The Power of Writing, Determining Your Why as a Teacher Writer/Awakener of LearningAs I sat at my desk, I scrolled through my mail and found an interesting one from a passionate author friend of mine, Ruth Ayres (editor of Choice Literacy). Her article, Get in the Pool: Teachers Who Write, held a truism, " If we want our students to grow as writers, then we must be teachers who write." 


Quick Write Thought

like threads sewn by nimble hands
writing flows
like winds that blow through the sky
writing flies
like thoughts that come and go
writing knows
heartbeats and sorrow
today to tomorrow
writing grows
©CVarsalona, 2022

Today is Poetry Friday and a wonderful poet/Kidlit author, Matt Forrest Esenwine is the host of the Roundup. If you travel to his website here, you will find exciting news about his new book, A Beginner's Guide to Being Human, which will be released on October 18th. To celebrate the occasion, Matt is writing a collection of poems based on topics in his book.

Join me at my blog, Beyond LiteracyLink, for my review of Matt's book. It is one that should be in school libraries and read aloud.

NOTICES
November 3, 2022 marks the second professional development workshop sponsored by the Reading Specialists Council of Suffolk. I am preparing now for my keynote address, Inviting and Encouraging Students to Discover the Writer Within, because I am in the writing zone, a very good place to be. 

My Finding Fall 2022 Padlet is growing as a gallery praising autumn. Please feel free to add your artistic expression or send it to me for insertion on the padlet. Thank you.

Responses to Poetry Friday friends will be spread throughout the weekend since we have friends staying with us. Happy October!

10 comments:

  1. So glad to hear your keynote went well, Carol! I just gave a short presentation to the children's lit class at my alma mater yesterday, and most of the students plan to be teachers - so I focused on why poetry is important to learn and teach. I was happy to hear that some of them even enjoy writing it, which I felt was a win-win-win!

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    1. Love it when the outcome is a win-win, Matt. Being on Twitter with my audience has a different feel than being in person. I always enjoy working with teachers.

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  2. Congratulations for your keynote, Carol. I am sure it was fantastic. Ruth is an old friend of a long time ago during my teaching time. We met first online while blogging then I attended the All-Write Conference several times in Warsaw, IN. Ah, she knows education & writing with students, just as I'm sure you know how important it is. I love the "heartbeats and sorrow/today to tomorrow." Enjoy your company!

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    1. Linda, it is so important to write in front of and with children. I have always believed in modeling. I am glad that you know Ruth also. She is such a wonderful person. Linda, you dropped a surprise at my padlet. Thanks for sharing your descriptive artistic expression of Autumn at the Finding Fall 2022 Padlet. Happy Fall!

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  3. Ta da! How wonderful that you gave your first keynote and that it went well. So happy for you. I need to go see your padlet. I'm not sure I have any offerings just yet.

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  4. Congratulations on a successful keynote! Lucky participants!!

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  5. I absolutely love your poem, Carol! The sounds flow so well - all those long o's. Beautifully lyrical. And congrats on your keynote. I haven't done much presenting since I retired.

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  6. So happy for you that your keynote connected...your poem definitely connected with me. Like so many things, we have to walk-the-talk if we want to help the kids.

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  7. You are so cute to be nervous about presenting on this topic, Carol--your expertise is incontrovertible! (But also I understand being a little anxious even when you know your stuff.) I like "flows, flies, knows, grows" so much. I added a little something to the Fall padlet--I'm glad to see you found a way to make that easier on yourself and fun for us to co-curate!

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  8. I'm so glad you conquered the jitters and had a good keynote experience, Carol. Your line about thoughts coming and going made me think about writing as a way to focus those thoughts and to preserve memories.

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