Maybe the original idea for this gallery came from Hidden Gems by Katherine Bomer, or maybe it came from my last day at Columbia University’s Writing Project with Chris Lehman. My teaching life has been flipped upside down in the best of ways this year. Celebrating has been at the heart of it, and after two formal Writer’s Galleries in my classroom, I felt these eighth graders deserved a little more. Regardless of how the idea came about, I certainly did not realize what it would become . . .
It all started after Easter, true to form I asked the kids to generate ideas about what they would write about. We talked about the importance of writing strengths, we wrote seed ideas for some, we made mini-plans; we did what was natural. Then we chose our topics and drafted.
At this point we camped out with revision; we had Stacy and Evan visit our room to help us—I researched how to revise poetry. Our pieces were shifting, they were becoming stronger—we were talking more, giving good feedback and pushing each other; we all wanted the gallery to be good. By the time we got to editing, I could feel my nerves rising. We brought in Courtney for event planning and organization/mounting of their pieces in the gallery. When I tell you these kids worked hard on these pieces, I want you to know—they worked hard.
On the day of the gallery, we arrived (Courtney, Hannah, & I) at Café 110 around noon. Dressed in workout clothes and sweating from the lack of air conditioning, I looked at the blank walls and the huge stack of pieces. Doubt poured through ever fiber of my being. Would people come? Would they point out the two spelling mistakes I just saw? Would people just “hang out” and read nothing, negating the purpose of the event altogether? But regardless of the questions hanging in the thick air around me, I would have to press on; the event had 189 reservations—too much to cancel for tonight.
The three of us, moved through the afternoon, talk was quick and focused. As I pressed the sticky tack against the walls, I would look at the pieces and hear my heart pounding. I saw the countless revisions. I saw their work on sentence structure. I remembered asking them why this was important to share. It was then that I got it. This work, written by my students needed to be there, outside of the school, in a gallery. I needed to say with my actions, you’re right, this is important to share—I believe in you. Student by student the pieces went on the walls next to a nametag that bore the phrase, Featured Author. If we didn’t need to move so fast, I would have turned to mush weeping at the power of the affirmation of putting their words on the wall.
In no time at all, I was getting dressed and heading downstairs. At five o’clock exactly the first guests began to arrive. The rooms began to fill; my heart began to race. Soon, I was greeting people and hugging students (Have I ever mentioned that social situations like this give me anxiety? I don’t like parties of more than three, seriously what was I thinking?)
I wish I could tell you something that someone said to me that night; I wish I could describe a student’s face or tell you about the parents I saw cry over their child’s written words. But I can’t, it’s a blur.
But here is what I can tell you, people came, and lucky for me they wrote comment cards. I want to leave you with some of these comments typed out—they warmed my heart, they reminded me why I do what I do, they validated my theory that celebrating kids is one of the most important jobs a teacher can do.
Awesome event.
You have been a wonderful inspiration to_______. I feel she has really grown in her writing this year. You made her year.
My daughter and I teared up reading your letter. Thank you for this opportunity!
I never knew my daughter could write like that.
Every part of this night had a definite “touch of class”
This was a beautiful event that shows how much you care about your students.
I never knew my son felt that way about life.
Tonight felt so professional. I love being a real author.
I would have loved to be part of this when I was in 8th grade or any grade! These kids write incredibly!
Each child captured their heart and put it on a page. The beauty of their writing caught me off guard.
I wanted to start this blog post with a quote from Hidden Gems. I could not settle on one.
“An acceptance of all students’ attempts at writing must be build into the process from the very start, or else learning how to write feels sterile, scary, and without purpose other than because it’s at school.”—164
“…when you write; you don’t know where you’re going until you get there; that the process is messy and recursive and as Donald Murry reminds us, that you write to find out what you didn’t know you knew.”—164
“It’s like when you’re working on a thousand-piece puzzle or building a model car, boat, or airplane—you need the completed picture on the top of the box to envision what this pile of little pieces and parts will ultimately become.”—164
“Besides the party-time accoutrements, a celebration provides a formalized, ritualized way to lift up an individual and respond to his or her accomplishments.”—165
If you did not read chapter 10 of Hidden Gems, you are missing out. This chapter, along with The Columbia University Writing Project changed my teaching career, maybe even my life (That’s dramatic, I know, but I teach in a middle school).
I feel like so many people, so many of our kids, go through life without these kinds of celebrations, where adults and friends look them direct in the eye and say, “this is good.” And so this year one of my goals became to celebrate a little more, sometimes this came in the form of blog posts, other times e-mails, texts, notes in journals . . . and at other times it was more formal, more direct; a Gallery Walk or a classroom family reflection.
These formal and informal celebrations have become part of the ebb and flow of my teaching life this year. It’s changed what I look for and in turn made me happier to be at work on rainy Monday mornings; happier to revise a story that looks like it’s going nowhere; just happier? Because in the end, the smile on that persons face, the confidence in their heart, is worth way more than any grade I ever put in the book.
If you haven’t thought about attending my class’s last formal celebration of the year, check it out; we’d love to share our work with you. Click on our invite for more details.Gallery Invite
When I first heard Katherine Bomer speak at Columbia University over a year ago, Hidden Gems was due to come out in a month. She spoke fast and with passion about how to talk to kids about their writing; she used up all of the hour allotted to her and allowed some of her time to trickle into the next session. Finding hidden gems in student writing was clearly something she believed in.
Her energy caught me, and I preordered the book. In other words, I am a dork. This is probably my fourth time reading through the book; I will probably need to read chapter four a few more times before it actually flows naturally in my conferences.
I am so thankful for the grey boxes she provided to help me talk to my writers. The more that I name and teach the skills I want my kids to have, the more I realize how vitally important it is to be more specific. Don’t get me wrong, I have conferences where I fall flat on my face in this area, almost everyday. I can’t tell you how many times I have been in Stacy’s office this year to talk about how to have an effective writing conference. I have been frustrated by kids who just stare at me when I ask them what goal they are working on; I have been unable to think of anything good to say about a piece.
However, when I look back at this chapter I am reminded that if I just slow down, and name things specifically the kids will eventually get the hang of it. Don’t get me wrong I sometimes feel silly when I say to a kid, “Your writing feels tense and edgy,” but I have yet to have a student laugh at that feedback. In fact more often than not their eyes light up and they are confident they have done something right. It is from this place of confidence that I can teach and encourage revision.
What quotes from the book do you think you might be able to weave into a writing conference?
The first time I read chapter 3 of Hidden Gems I felt convicted. I don’t read enough. It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading, but I have no time for it. Between grading papers and creating lesson plans, sometimes I feel like I’m missing out on life itself. Yet, somehow I’ve shifted gears and started to make reading for me a priority. Thanks to the Kindle I got from my amazing Sister-In-law this Christmas, reading has reentered my life with high-tech style. And thanks to the Kindle’s fantastic “clipping feature” highlighting sections of great language in these books has become second nature to me.
So, I’ve been learning about myself and what I love about literature. I love lines that make me say, “Me too!” and words that force me to pause and think, “I’ve never thought of it that way,” or spots where the beauty of written words just seem to take my breath away. I’ve been bringing these snippets to my classroom since Christmas. I often share ones I’ve recently highlighted in writing conferences or mini-lessons; sometimes kids will copy the words down into their journals and together we discuss how to craft writing that moves people.
What I have noticed is that the more I do this with real authors the more inclined I am to do it with my kids writing too. Unfortunately, I can’t highlight in their journals with the click of a button but, I do savor their words. Sometimes I text them to my neighbor or I call my roommate in from the next room. Every now and then my mom gets an e-mail that contains sentences stolen from my kid’s journals. It’s my goal to bring these lines into the classroom more often to let the kids hear the authors rising among us.
Here are some great ones lines my kids are wanted to share with you…
My dinner last night was a furious killing of precooked teriyaki.
It was only me.
Laura came charging like a bull just when I had just gotten used to her being silent and hidden like a cat.
Not only was he yelling at me, he used my word, used it as trash, calling me a redonkulous fool.
I don’t know how I’m going tackle this massive beast of a dishmonster.
This is going to be harder than a monkey fighting a bulldog and that’s the truth.
This weekend was like a box of chocolates fallen from heaven.
Probably one of the biggest catalysts to my personal identity as a writer was an e-mail I received on May 10, 2010. The quote below is a response to an e-mail that I sent to a close friend revealing my desires to write and teach others about writing. These are the words that I “cling to” when I’m not sure I have what it takes.
“Rach…this is beautiful, raw and gutsy…thank you for sharing it with me…Let’s get together and talk when you have a moment…let’s discover together what the plan is…”
Oh, how I needed to hear this response as a writer. Especially that first part, “beautiful, raw and gutsy.” I needed the time of trusted friend, someone to sit with me and process what I was too nervous to share with anyone else. There is the promise of time too, that she did live up to, time to sit reflect on the writing and what it meant.
As I read chapter two of Hidden Gems, I am realizing that perhaps one of my favorite pieces I have ever written has nothing to do with school or the academic world at all. Rather the piece I am most proud of is one I wrote because my heart told me I had to.
I can identify with the feeling that Katherine Bomer talks about in this chapter. . . how comments can help or hinder writers. I have experienced it myself. A small note from a friend, changed me as a writer forever.
Only now, at 26, have I started to feel okay with having others read my writing- from the safety of a blog that is.
“Because when I’m able to read past all those surface problems, what I find in young people’s writing is passionate, surprising, and endearing enough to convince me that I have the best job on earth.” -Katherine Bomer
I have to admit for the past couple of weeks I’ve been stressing about all kinds of issues in my kid’s writing. What I should also tell you is that for the past couple of weeks I haven’t had time to sit down and read my kid’s journals either. Between the flu, snow days, and my attempts to organize Student Lead Conferences, I was crossing my fingers hoping my kids were still writing at all.
Then last night I finally had a chance to curl up in my big green chair with a stack of journals. My roommate and my neighbor were talking on the couch, but I was captivated. More than once, I found myself squealing with delight and forcing my friends to listen as I read to them fragrant snippets from my kid’s journals. Let me share some kid love with you…
“The air screams, I am almost done. Pizza.”
“As the doughy bread filled my mouth, it left an Italian impression.”
“Someday, I want to give someone flowers, just to cheer them up.”
Tomorrow begins our language arts teachers book club on Hidden Gems. I think this is a great book to begin with because it is very teacher/reader friendly. What I mean is that you can pick it up, start to read, and you’re hooked. Katherine Bomer turns writing instruction into an interesting story that you don’t want to put down…no need to drink lots of coffee and keep yourself awake through this one. I hope all of the teachers feel the same!
