Holly’s Blog

When looking back on my writing experiences from elementary school, I realize there were many good ones. I can remember practicing writing each year, and given the space to write about things I enjoy. I remember when I was in 1st grade, we got to write an autobiography. I was super excited, because I was able to write about things I loved, and fill it with pictures that were special to me. This project carried on throughout the whole year. To start off we made a list of things we enjoyed and wanted to incorporate. I remember us taking it one page at a time, writing it on paper, having our teachers/parents check it before we were able to type it out. I was so excited to work on it everyday, and I was proud of my work when I was done. During second grade, I remember us making a book about penguins. Although this was assigned during a unit, our teacher gave each student a specific penguin to focus on so it seemed more specific and special to each student. We all took it very seriously, because our teacher “published” our book through a company and we each got a copy. In third grade, we had a writers notebook where we decorated the front, and twice a week we would draw fun, silly, or serious prompts out of a hat. We were encouraged to be creative and honest. I loved this time we got and looked forward to it. In third grade, we also wrote another story, and I remember having many stages. Each students name got put on a clothes pin and we were allowed to move it to each steps that consisted of, brainstorming, peer review, teacher review, etc once we were finished. I would say these were projects that stick out most from my elementary school writing experiences.

After reflecting upon those, it shows that my purposes for writing changed with each project. I am glad that I had so many different purposes because it made it fun and helped me learn more. Throughout those experiences, I realize that I worked with my peers and teachers during the writing process. With that, I was able to grow even more and get ideas/strategies to use. They helped me see things that I couldn’t and gave me the chance to talk about what I was including in my writing. Working with teachers, made me feel special and my writing important. I was thankful that my teachers allowed me to write about things I love and were important to me. I am also glad I was taught to write geared more towards a specific purpose. I loved writing when it came to journaling and wasn’t all about the grammar, format, and structure. When it came to those things I found writing to be more stressful and not as enjoyable because I was worried about those things being perfect. Overall, I have great memories of writing. I am thankful that I was put in the position to be challenged and have fun at the same time. All of the different writing projects ultimately made me become a stronger writer in the end!

How do you define writing?

I define writing as a way to explain, express, share, or describe a person’s thoughts or ideas. Writing can be done for ones own benefit or for an audience. Writing can share with the world or others who we are, and how we are feeling about certain topics. Practicing writing can cause humans to learn a lot.

What do you see as the teacher’s role in children learning to write?

As a future teacher, I think that their role when a child is learning to write is to mainly be as positive and encouraging as a possible. They should assist them in brainstorming and creating different strategies to aid them along the way. They should explain to them that it is not always easy and is meant to challenge them academically, and as a person. It is important to help them with more technical things like formatting, different writing styles, and grammar. Teachers should provide examples and show that if they can be vulnerable and creative, their students can as well. Overall, I think it is crucial for the teacher to be a students biggest cheerleader!

What else do you think is important in children learning to write?

Like I mentioned previously I think that positive feedback is one of the most important things in children learning to write. Along with that, I think that stressing to children that writing can be whatever they want it to be. When teaching writing, it is important to alter writing prompts or projects to fit the studetns needs. It is not an overnight process, and it something they are going to get better at with time and more practice. If teachers take a little bit of the pressure of throughout this, students are going to improve a tremendous amount.

Writing Territories:

Heart Map:

Things I know to be true!

1. I know that I am blessed to have amazing family and friends who are healthy!

2. I know that I am happy because the Bachelor is on tonight.

3. I know that I want to develop strong relationships with my students and have a classroom where my students will flourish and grow.

Question: What would your dream career be and why?

I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. Looking back on my childhood, I have vivid memories of playing school with my grandma and loving every second of it. I always loved going to school from pre-school all the way up to high-school. I have spent a lot of time in a classroom with my mom being a 5th grade teacher. She was actually even my own! As I got older I realized how magical of an environment a teacher can create in a classroom with their students. I believe that teachers have a tremendous impact on a child’s development and give them opportunities to grow as a person. Although I look forward to the day of having my own classroom and being able to teach, my ultimate career goal is to become an administrator. The more I grew up, the more interesting the role of a principal became to me. Behind every great teacher is a strong community that encourages them and motivates them. I believe that having the support of your principal is crucial to the success of a teacher, and I want to be that person for them. Becoming an administrator would give me the chance to continue my education and see the school system from a new perspective. I love working with people and have such a strong passion for improving our schools for the teachers and kids. I believe that being an administrator would give me the opportunity to still be hands on with the kids, all while providing support to teachers to help them be successful. I believe one of the reasons I loved school so much was because of the strength I felt from the community I was apart of. I feel that a lot of the strength from a community is created by a principal. In order for your students to have a good experience, you absolutely need teachers to feel encouraged. Overall, I would be so eager to be a teacher and eventually a principal. I hope that my career goals will someday impact future students and teachers.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.