As I re-read my writing from this morning - specifically about I see myself as a teacher/writer, I thought of how to bring myself into these two nouns. What is it about me that I can pour into these words and I recognized something: I really enjoy empathasizing, putting on someone else's shoes, absorbing the contexts that I surround myself in - saturating and marinating in them. Oh, I should also add that I like to focus on the positive. So how does this make me a better writer/teacher?
Our group exercise for the day was a tableau; we chose an action and froze in response to the word 'assessment'. Now for me, I view assessment in positive terms...as much as I dread turning in papers, as well as grading them. At my core, I know that assessment is linked to opportunity and critical thinking/analysis/re-examining, revising, re-visiting in hope of creating something more fully...
Unfortunately, I am also aware of the numbers game teachers are forced to play at the end of each year and the dread that accompanies these tests. There has to be a way to dialogue out of the old perceptions and into new ones...
Thank you for mentioning the "writers' studio" as a term to describe the writing classroom. I like the idea of a studio rather than a classroom. There is an implication of creative work that sits well with me and connects with my ideas about writing being a creative process.
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