Unseen, She Stood Beside Me

I sat, over Christmas break, completely baffled about what to do with my sixth grade writers when we returned in January.  It wasn't just one sitting that I contemplated and analyzed this concept.  It had been prior to vacation, and all throughout.  We had just finished a fiction unit - the one unit 95% are most eager to participate in due to their love of fantasy, mystery, and/or drama.  But now I was stuck... How could I get them as excited about any other piece of writing as they were about the genre of Fiction?  Sitting in the sushi restaurant where I do my planning (yes, I find that lesson plans over sushi is much easier than planning at home), I had an instinct that spoke to me louder than ever about where to find my answer.  The National Writing Project.  Of course.  How could I not have gone there two weeks ago when I was stuck?  It is the place of endless creative ideas.  It is the place of security, and like-minded people.  I can't tell you what I searched, but within moments I had the emotional connection I was looking for in my teaching.  I read of a high school student whom had written a report on eating disorders because she wanted to change the world, and ensure that no other young woman or man encountered the same debilitating disease she had been suffering with for years.  At the end of her research, she checked herself into a hospital-setting for rehabilitation.  She had begun changing the world by educating herself.  I knew my students were capable of the same.

Activism.  I was going to challenge my students, and myself, to change the world with knowledge and passion.  This was not an easy task since they are 11 and 12 years old.  Knowing full well my school librarian would be eager to participate, I began to brainstorm what this would look like as a teacher, and as a student.   After a few lessons of listing and writing what makes you angry, what needs to change, what makes you sad, who is an activist from history/in your life, and how to create a strong angle the students picked their topics and we headed to the library.  The librarian had taught them several lessons about databases, and safe searching, and was eager to collaborate with me on this unit.

It was during my second class that I looked around and had a deep feeling of familiarity.  Despite having never done this assignment, the enthusiasm and passion from my students made me feel that I had been here before, and yet I hadn't.  And then I had my flashback.

I was sitting in Provence with my still intact writing group - PWC (Professional Writing Cohort).  Each of us were sharing what we most wanted to explore and learn about as educators.  Kathryn expressed a great desire to share with her students the need to delve into information, research, to learn more about a given topic.  "I want my students to WANT to learn more about the world around them... I want to say we are going to do research, and watch their eyes light up, rather than the groans heard around the room.  They need to know that it is important to want to learn more and go deeper with your thinking.  I am going to spend this time writing and reflecting on different strategies to motive students as researchers, learners, and writers."  It was in that moment that Kathryn was in my teaching.

See, Kathryn passed a mere 8-months after this conversation.  It was truly a devastating to blow to our writing group.  She didn't have ample time to delve into this critical area of teaching and learning.  We as a writing group didn't have ample time to have her depth of thinking and questioning.  But as I stood in the library, watching my students, I felt her standing beside me, nodding her head, and telling me we were onto something, and pushing me to keep going.  Kathryn may be gone from our physical world, but her dreams and lessons continue to live on in the world of teaching.