I hate writing!

I love to read (I know, I know - major understatement), but I struggle with writing. Always have.  I loved reading the assigned books in my high school English classes, but completely froze when asked to write about what I read.  I had constant writer’s block.  I went off to Holy Cross College and perused the course catalogs with longing.  I yearned to be an English or a history major, but the writing intimidated me.  So, I became a math major.

Math majors can do one of three things - become a high school math teacher (no thank you - high school kids scare me), pursue higher mathematics and teach at the college level (they seriously lost me at basic linear algebra - and never found me again), or become an actuary (the path I chose and cardboard is more exciting).  After a few years in the insurance industry, it was time to pursue other options.  When I told people I was entering the teaching field, the response was, “Of course you’ll teach high school math.”  

When I was at Holy Cross, I founded a read aloud program in two elementary schools near campus.  I loved my time in the classroom back then and opted for elementary school rather than becoming a math teacher.  I completed my student teaching in a first grade classroom, and subsequently fell in love with watching kids learn how to read and write.  

My first year of teaching was in inner-city Denver with fourth graders who read at a first grade level and could not write a sentence.  Even teaching math was a struggle because they could not read the word problems.  I pursued my Masters in literacy because I needed to understand how children learn to read and write and in the process found my calling, my gift.  Seriously.  All my life I was disappointed because I couldn’t find my gift.  I couldn’t sing with perfect pitch or draw something beyond a basic stick figure or write like some of my brilliant friends do.  Teaching children and helping them become readers and writers - that’s what I can do!

My Kindergartners write every day in class.  Through writing they learn about letters, sounds, and more importantly how words on a page have meaning.  My students write about themselves, what we’ve learned in class, a response to a story, and more.  Most days I provide a general idea for their writing (see Teaching Writing in Kindergarten by Randee Bergen).  Once a week I will allow students to choose between a free-write or a given topic.  I provide topics for two reasons.  One, most Kindergartners will rely on “I like my mom and dad.” when left to choose their own topic.  I get wonderful, varied responses from students when they have a more guided topic.  Two, the idea of free-writing always terrified me (still does) and I see how it terrifies some of my students.  Students will say, “But I don’t have anything to write about.”  So on those days when most students are writing about their own topic, a small handful will write about my given topic.  I want them to feel confident when writing and not terrified of a blank paper.  I want them to have something to write about.  I never want to hear my students say, “I hate writing.”