Looking for Story-Magic

I am feeling hungry for new ideas, new adventures, new stories.  I need - I want - some story carbs.  I want to get lost in another world. Something magical, something mysterious.  I want to fill my soul with story-magic.  I want inspiration for myself and my students.

So where to start.  I want the process to be fun.  I want to find some cool ways to create a story.  Along the way I had an interesting insight into my own reading choices.  Most of my free lance writing has been nonfiction.  Yet my free choice reading is heavy on the fiction side.  An interesting conundrum. So back to the question at hand, "How do you write great fiction?"

For the last month I have been asking myself what ideas would make a fun and exciting writing prompt.  I wanted a non-threatening activity that produced quality writing.  I know, you're asking, how does she spell "clueless"?

I was in Barnes and Noble  and found the book the "The Chronicles of Harris Burdick".  (I admit I may have been living under a rock and missed it when it first came out.)   There are 14 well known authors who each wrote a story about one of the pictures from the book "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick".  What a great connection - what a fabulous mentor text!  I think my intermediate students who like stories a little on the dark side will be thrilled with this book.

So then I started googling Harris Burdick.  I found  treasure.  Lots of people have been inspired by Chris Van Allsburg's illustrations and writing.  I found video's on YouTube.  I found music.  And I found animated pictures on the publisher's website.  I did an internet search and found some great lesson ideas.

• Who is Harris Burdick (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing) http://www.hmhbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/
• Teacher's Guide to Mysteries of Harris Burdick http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/thepolarexpress/tg/mysteriesofharris_tg.pdf
• ReadWriteThink  http://204.232.153.98/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/mysteries-harris-burdick-using-30606.html?tab=3
• Teacher Feature: Seasonal Writing http://literatureforlunch.com/?p=213
• Music http://www.millerandtysen.com/tuck-everlasting/the-mysteries-of-harris-burdick/
• Childhood Nightmares: Harris Burdick (YouTube) http://youtu.be/mrCTSNPVhXI
• Creative Writing http://www.frontiernet.net/~mblow/harris_burdick.htm

I look over the collection, and ponder how I will put these puzzle pieces together.  I am reminded of the line from the Once Upon a Time Storytelling Cards (Atlas Games) "Not all fairy tales have a happy ending".  

Writing Matters

As an educator I have taken numerous classes and workshops over my 20 plus years as a teacher.  I can count the ones that have have had lasting impact on my teaching.  The ones that not only changed my professional life but my personal life can be counted on one hand.  Of these courses the National Writing Course held in Laurel MT (2009) has probably had the greatest impact of all.

The fall of 2009 I started my first blog.  In it I write about Alzheimer's, dementia, and caregiving.  The second one I started focuses on education - books and technology.  Last year I started my third blog, this one relates to sharing more personal writing.  I have also been fortunate to have published a few articles. An exciting event for me was to be contacted to write a piece on the Father's Day Tornado that hit here in Billings, MT.

Even as terrific and satisfying as all that is, that is not the most important change.  The most important change is how it changed my teaching.  Because of that class my students writing is improving because of what I learned.  I teach library skills and because of the National Writing Project I am able to use content in a way that makes a difference in their lives.

Each step builds on the foundation.  I have made connections with other teachers who write.  Many of them have also participated with the National Writing Project.  So what you have are teachers, on our own time and dime improving our skills as writers and teachers.  This program works! We believe in this program!

This last month I have participated in the Slice of Life Challenge held at the blog "Two Writing Teachers". I have written 30 days out of the last 31.  I have made connections with people who span the globe.  I have received encouragement and "ata girls".  I have also commented on other people's writing and experiences.  We have formed a community.  That's what I am trying to do with my students - form a community of writers.

I think it is working.  Recently I have done some 2 minute writing exercises, several of my reluctant learners begged for longer time to write!  The National Writing Project works, there are years of evidence that testifies to its effectiveness.  That's why I felt sucker punched when our government cut programs like the National Writing Project.  Why would you cut the programs with good track records when you say you are for education?

Our government wants accountability.  Our leaders say our kids deserve a great education.  They say that our education system isn't working.  My response to that is many of us strive to improve our ability to be the best teachers we can be.  We care about our students, our schools and our communities.  We care about our democracy.  Teaching students to examine and express their opinions is an important piece of being an educated and informed citizen.

As a taxpayer I'm confused.  We have money to bail out banks, yet we choose to balance the budget by cutting programs that make a difference in people's lives. Why?

Playing to a Tough Crowd

This afternoon I shared my “Wind Song” story with one of my second grade classes.  They listened intently.  I asked them what they thought.  They were so polite, they told me lines that they liked. 

I asked one young girl if she thought the story was funny.  She looked at me and smiled, then nodded her head yes. 

“You didn’t laugh.”

Dakota with eyes twinkling responded, “I laughed in my head.”

Yes this was a challenging audience, and I felt devastated when my story didn’t even elicit a chuckle.

So what did I learn?  Audience - this was a story about young children, but it didn’t play to their humor.  It played to adult humor.  I have read other books for children that just didn’t work.  Good story lines just missing elements like timing and a bit of magic - the laughter of children.

So what makes children laugh?  Funny words – dialogue – playful sounds – clear pictures in the mind.  Humor that is up front and lots of pictures.

The kids were checking out books today and I discourage my kindergarten kids from checking out chapter books.  I focus them on picture books and true books written at their interest level.

One boy asked could they check out from the black cart (cart where the fiction books are waiting to be shelved).  I explained they were for the older kids.  He was not buying what I was selling.

 Another student offered – “Books with difficult words. “

 I said, “yes”. 

Another added, “Too many words.”

I agreed.

My young student reflected, “Just lots of words?”

I nodded, “Yes” and added, “not very many pictures.”

His nose wrinkled up,  “Just words?” 

I then asked him if he was still interested in checking one of those books out.  He looked at me with such disdain, and repeated “No pictures.”

It made me remember how disillusioned I was when I started reading chapter books and they didn’t have many pictures.  I remember asking my mother why they left the pictures out.

Her answer was, “They expect you to make movies in your mind.  You have to do the work instead of relying on an artist.”

Want to know a secret?  I still like books with lots of pictures even though I have learned to make movies in my mind.

The Paper Monster is Lurking Behind that Stack of Books

You can always tell how stressed I am by looking at my desk.  Does it looks like an avalanche in the making, ready to bury the unsuspecting passerby?  Then you know I am a little stressed.  Though to be fair I may just be going through a creative streak. 

I know it is bad when my students offer to clean my desk off.  When I am working on a new unit, I can tune out all distractions. The papers multiply, the book stacks grow taller, until either I come up for breath or my principal threatens to take my laptop away.

You see this is the first laptop I have had for school.  It arrived the last of October and she told me she wouldn’t give it to me until I had my desk cleared off.  It took me a week to dig out from under the piles of paper.  I feel good that I managed to control the chaos until now.  Three months people could see that there was a desk. 

Right now the stacks are making me uncomfortable.  They are growing taller.  I can play hide and seek and no one would find me.  I keep telling myself I need to take baby steps combined with action, instead of just reading FlyLady’s blog http://www.flylady.com/.  She teaches people how to move from chaos to order. I read her posts hoping to  bring order to my life and not just because she is funny.

I know the paper monster is lurking, hidden within the stacks.  Waiting for that unsuspecting soul to walk by triggering an avalanche.  Where to start? Hmm – I really don’t want to deal with the paper monster right now.  I think I’ll go and play with some new ideas for class next week.