Revolution

With my involvement in the OWP, I have undergone a terrific change. Before this program, I was stuck in my ways, stuck in my thinking. I had only been teaching for two years, but I knew what the students needed, and I thought that what I did in the classroom was the best way to meet those needs. Yet, as I became a student in the OWP, listening to and learning from so many different teachers, I sympathized with my students. I realized that while I might be a 'good' teacher, that I could improve so very much. I realized that while I could 'do' my job, that I could enjoy my job. I realized that while my students could 'do' their work, that they could enjoy their work. I realized that there was hope.

I know that in this post I am to answer a series of questions that range from 'What is the plan for your own writing?' to 'How did you develop your demonstration?' I could, and probably should, comply with the request to answer each of the questions posed to me. However, I think it would suffice to say that the Ozarks Writing Project - not the project itself but the individuals involved - has revolutionized my thinking on teaching. I am positive that had I not come, I would have faced another year of frustration, another year of threatening to leave the profession. So I am grateful to everyone who has been a part of the last four weeks. You have, in no uncertain terms, saved me, a teacher.

Now that I've said what I had to say, perhaps I should set myself to answering these blasted questions. My action plan is simple: implement as much as I can from the demonstration as often as I can. In truth, there is something from each of the demos. that I can include in my teaching, and I am sure that me and my students will be better for it. There are two overarching ideas, however, that I will most definitely institute: writer's workshop and small writing groups. Writer's workshop, although it may be difficult to begin, I believe will add so much to the way in which I teach writing. On those days in which we workshop, I finally have a forum that I understand in which I can teach mini-lessons. Additionally, I loved my small writing group, and I want to be able to establish a similar type of community for my students.

Finally, the OWP has shown me that I have something valid to say as a writer. Before reading my work aloud to variety of people, I struggled mightily with insecurity. Would anyone want to hear my writing? What would they say? Would they like it? Yet, what I found during the last four weeks was that somewhere in me is a powerful voice and that people want to listen to that voice. Thus, I have set for myself a goal: I want to write a novel. Ambitious, I know, but those involved with the OWP have given me the courage to do so.

So, once again, I am left in awe of all those who I know consider my fellows. You have, in many ways, saved me.

Thank you so much,

JR