For years, I hid. In other professions. Teaching other subjects. And then I had a principal that hated diagraming as much as I did and said that they couldn't see the merit of placing the words of a sentence on random lines. Things started to turn around. Then I taught Social Studies and incorporated literature and plays. And I began to come out of hiding. I began to find my own place. My own style. And that was okay.
I'm not here to argue that kids need to learn the difference between a noun and a verb. Or where to put commas. Or how to begin a sentence. There are some things that kids do need to learn in order to be good communicators. But shouldn't we spend more time focusing on what is right and how to improve sentences, rather than leaving a trail of red?
A good friend encouraged me tremendously. He told me to just write. When I was expressing myself creatively I could make my own rules ( up to a point- as a journalist, I'm sure he has his limits with my grammar). So I did. I just starting writing. And free from the fear, I found fun. And once I became free to express myself I became more aware of grammatical rules and more aware of the ones that I was breaking. I learned more from my mistakes and felt brave for breaking some rules intentionally.
Yes, there are times when I more carefully consider my sentence construction- my resources, for example. I edit and edit and edit. I'm not perfect. I've caught a mistake a time or two or three (after it was published) and corrected it (immediately). I've had students point out mistakes (I love that they 'catch' me) and I correct the errors. But isn't that the point. Life is all about learning. We can all be learning together. Or we can weld our red pens like a scepter and replace the joy of learning with fear.
For years, I wrote lessons, units, curriculum. And I loved it. Another friend encouraged me to start publishing. Take a look. I love this creative way to reinforce lessons!
 |
| Boom Cards! |
Privacy Policy
This blog does not share personal information with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies. You can turn off the use of cookies at anytime by changing your specific browser settings. I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without my permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on June 5, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly at kimberlyfrencken@gmail.com
No comments