“Write long and strong.”

I heard this in a classroom the other day. We adopted a new writing series this year and I have been in classrooms almost every day to see how it’s going, offer support, and facilitate the introduction of writing workshop at our school. Being in the midst of writing instruction every day has been the highlight of the year so far. Bands of grade levels are writing at the same time, so I can float from one room to the next within an hour and everyone is writing. It makes a strong statement to our students about the value we place on explicit writing instruction. We are all in this together. I enjoy seeing each teacher put their spin on the writing process. I love seeing students begin to see themselves as writers. Our students are energetic and excited about writing each day.

When I heard “write long and strong” from a teacher it struck me that both our students and I are on a writing journey this year. I’m on the journey of #BLOG365 and our students are charting unknown waters with writer’s workshop. Through this blogging process I am learning to look at the world as a writer…again. I am mining for ideas each day. Our students are doing the same. We are all learning to trust ourselves as writers, capture meaningful moments through our writing, and get our ideas on paper (or on this screen). The process is more important than the content. We are reflecting on our writing and sharing it with an audience. The best part of all of this is that although we are writing for ourselves, we are leaning on the companionship of others. The students in my school are leaning on their teachers and classmates. I am leaning on the #BLOG365 bloggers. The environment of support is allowing me to take risks as a writer and an educator.

Here I am, taking the advice of one of our teachers and writing long and strong and learning a whole lot about myself as a writer and a person in the process.