The Beginning...

I have started another semester at Weber State University! My classes are grouped together in a block and we treat them as one class rather than four different classes. It is an English block, we are learning about how to teach writing, reading, poetry, and grammar. I have been learning so much and it is only week three. Each activity/assignment we do is something that we can apply to our own classrooms in the future. Also, during this semester I will be teaching again. We call them practicums (next semester will be my student teaching). It will be for five weeks and I will be in a teaching team. My group consists of me and two guys and we will be teaching English at Two Rivers High School. The cooperating teacher sounds amazing (far better than the one I worked with last semester)! I am sure I will learn so much more, I will be sure to blog how things are going.

In my classes we have been discussing ways to get students to write. One of the options is to present prompts, but we also need to allow students to have ownership of their writing. This means that there are days that they will have free-write. It was asked, "What do you do with the student who says they have nothing to write about?" My professor, Dr. Butler, talked about a literary autobiography timeline. It is a timeline that shows what you have read, what you have written, and important moments that involve reading/writing throughout your life. She said you have students create one of these in the beginning of the year. Then, when a student says they have nothing to write, refer them to choose something off of their timeline.

Of course, we do every idea that is thrown out in class. So, we created our own timeline. Then, we discussed them in small groups. Our group decided what they wanted to know more about and we had to write a short little thing. I wanted to share mine, since it is about how I began writing (it is only a rough draft, so there might be errors).

The Beginning

Everything in life has a beginning—chickens begin as eggs, flowers as seeds, and stories as thoughts. My love and passion for writing was no different, it too had a beginning.

The year was 1994 and I was in the 3rd grade at Roy Elementary School. My teacher, Ms. Higgs, began class by telling us about a contest our school district was having, “a contest each and every one of you will be entering into.” she stated. Ms. Higgs proceeded to tell us that the contest was a reflections contest. That we would need to write a story that went with the theme: What if…. The story was to be worked on in class and at home and right before we submitted it we would read them in front of the class.

I remember feeling so little and not knowing how to write a story. I also felt obligated to write, I was the type of student who did as they were told. I was too afraid of getting a failing grade. So, I did as my teacher asked and began to write words down (even if I didn’t know how they were supposed to go together). As I wrote the story, I would ask my parents or sisters how to spell certain words or what words meant in order to get my point across.

Eventually, I created a story. For not knowing what I was doing I was proud of myself; I knew that I created something unique. The day came that we were to read them in class, before students started to read their stories Ms. Higgs asked us if the process was difficult. I remember kids talking about the struggles they had—they didn’t know how to create characters, how to create ideas, or even how to create the words they needed. While I struggled with the words, everything else seemed easy to me. The ideas flowed like electricity through my body.

As I stood in front of my class, I read the title: What if… We Ate Dinner in the Bathtub? My story was about a boy whose world was turned upside down. His family ate dinner in the bathtub, bathed on the stairs, and slept in the backyard. I don’t recall exactly how I came up with the idea, but it seemed to flow right out of me.

Ms. Higgs submitted the stories on our behalf, weeks later we got the results of who had won the contest. You’ll never guess who won 1st place---ME!!!

Writing for this contest did something to me. I was hooked! I began writing every chance I could. It started out mostly as journaling, but as the years have passed it has developed into something much more. It is more than an assignment, now it is my way of life. It is how I express myself, how I escape the trials in my life, and how I encourage others. Everything has a beginning, mine just happened when I was nine years old.