Personal Response: Writing Process: A Shining Moment by Sondra Perl

I read the last two pages and it's reminded me of learning to become a teacher researcher in my own classroom. Last week I attended the OWP Teacher Inquiry Institute and I'm thinking in researcher terms, but these pages led me there as well.

Sondra Perl reminds us of some key points as the researcher: that you are not "testing" and coming to a conclusion, but your research is ever growing, ever changing, ever moving along with the study. It's important to know that you stand outside to conduct the research, but that within the context of your own work what you consider relevant will appear in your classroom. In fact, it's vital that you are engaged in what is being study, but it's equally vital, as much as possible, but us to understand our own impact on the results.

Important reminder: It's not a test, but pay attention to the details.

Important reminder: Attend to the work in slow and careful ways. Do not rush the process.

Important reminder: I am not alone. We do not work in solitude--we work with writers, use the students.

Important reminder: Studying about writing is never done. There is always more to see, more to do, more ways to look at how students create and how new texts are always evolving.

I Write. Therefore I Tweet

Melissa led us in freewriting after reading Terry Tempest Williams excerpt "Why I Write" from Creative Non-fiction. I write because I am meant for expression. I am meant to share, to talk, to write. Therefore...I tweet.

Today is the second day of the Summer Institute. Last night I went home at 5:00 p.m. This is the first year, in four years of facilitating, that I didn't feel like there was "something pressing to do for the next day." It felt good to go home to my porch, enjoy the outdoors of the Ozarks for a little bit. Take a walk with my dog, grab dinner with a friend, and then, once I got home, I felt inspired to read, to write, to look at our schedule and see what's ahead. Instead though, I tweeted.

This is the first summer institute with live tweeting for the OWP, and it's been fun to experience. Actually, it's my first SI with live tweeting anywhere. I've been tweeting since December of '08, but didn't actively follow my Twitter account until October of '09. This opened up a whole new world of professional learning for me. Twitter is my space, and I'm away from my students. I was a Facebook teacher for many years, and still am, but Twitter has become my place for learning, and reading, and getting a grasp on what's happening in the world around me. Twitter is a place where I can follow people with the same like-mind. I read what they are writing, I read what articles online they are sharing. They read about the weather in Colorado and what's for dinner in Kansas City. But, it's more than just that. The social network aspect isn't what keeps me tweeting. In fact, I find myself deleting tweeters who only update about their social lives. Mostly, it's because I can find those updates on Facebook. However, tweeting an online article about paperless classrooms, or writing instruction, or technology in the classroom, or grading without letter grades, those are the articles that keep me going back to twitter. I can search anything with the hashtags, but I admit my tags for the last few months have only been writing project related as this is my professional learning community and I have a deep trust and commitment to those who have participated in writing project events around the nation.

And...time's up...more to come tomorrow I'm sure.