We write to share our stories. Our stories share our lives. And sharing our stories helps to create, to expand and to save our lives. Writing is what we do in our classroom--we write in many different ways--creatively, passionately, nervously, quickly, shyly, and, most importantly, bravely.
My students are amazing.
I'm sure every teacher says that, but truly, it is an honor to educate these young people and to spend time with them. My school is a neighborhood school of about 1200 students, I educate all 9th graders, and they are diverse. I have students who come from families of privilege and economic stability sitting next to students who have no idea where their next meal will come from. I have students bound for Yale in the same room as students who will join the military, next to students who will join the workforce, next to students who will become pregnant underage. I have an amazing mix of young people with whom I get to share my day. They are curious, they are insightful, they are wise beyond their years and they are so unbelievably innocent that at times my heart swells and breaks simultaneously. My students are strong--they are not victims. They are passionate and they are believers.
My Project
The materials I am requesting--a variety of writer's note and sketchbooks--will help advance our Writer's Notebook and Writer's Workshop. Each day we spend between 10-20 minutes in our Writer's Notebooks. Students use these books as drafting areas, brainstorming fodder, a place to sketch out a story board for a novel, writing new poetry, or a place to write letters to people who have challenged and inspired them. These notebooks will provide students with a uniform and professional place to share their ideas. Many of my students are currently using old, tattered, nearly finished notebooks, some even recycling notebooks from last year. It is time they have a place to share their work and writing that is organized, beautiful, professional and full of life--these new notebooks will be a wonderful spot for their creativity and for their ideas to flourish. We will use these notebooks each day and these notebooks will stay with most students through the end of the year.
Using time to write in my classroom is sacred.
I honor this time for students and students use this time wisely. They know that their voice is the most powerful tool they possess as minors--and they use their voice in their writing. We will use these notebooks for a variety of writing types, from categorizing our reading lists, to writing song lyrics, to mapping our inferencing skills, to writing the next great American novel--these notebooks will be the pride and joy of my classroom.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. A. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.