My students make so many interesting observations. They share profound things that make me literally freeze in my cute shoes. These thoughts must be captured. They must be considered by others. I shouldn't be the only one fortunate enough to hear them.
Thankfully, we have Writer's Notebooks. They are mobile and don't require charging or upgrades. We can be imperfect there. We can try out ideas like a new pair of shoes. We can pin down our thoughts with No. 2 pencil points.
But as writers of the digital age, we also have other tools to record our thinking. We have our classroom blog & a class Twitter account. We can't keep them in our desks, & sometimes, the websites are down, but they prove their own values. Indeed, with these tools, we've learned the power of an audience. A comment from a teacher in Austin sparks a geography lesson. A reply from a class in Ohio gets us thinking about similes. These happenings are powerful, for they fuel the next post, or the next tweet. Thus the writing lives on.
How is this maintained? What is the process? I wish I could give the exact steps. Quantifying these moments in a way that can be replicated is impossible. I go with the words spoken. I listen to my students as they talk, and I apply the thought to a concept. It doesn't take an expert ear, but it does take a willing one. Are you willing to let go of the way you planned to teach something? Can you share it in the form your students need to hear it?
A writer's notebook is where it begins. A writer's notebook is where the thoughts are tossed about. But sometimes the thoughts must go elsewhere.
Sometimes we must bottle them in electronic containers to be clicked open by trackpad or mouse.
Then they are free again.
Free to be considered by others. Free to amaze others. Free to be.