Monday, June 14, 2010

My Table's Response to Processing Freewriting

I had a hard time getting started today. I'm not sure if it was everything I'm thinking I need to be doing, or thinking about the day ahead, but I had a hard time getting that process going. Plus, because I was posting to my personal blog, I almost think that hindered me. Maybe I will go back to private writing in a journal.

Actually, once I started freewriting, it helped me to organize my thoughts and kind of gather what it was I needed to do.

Shelli: I don't yet know what or how feel about freewriting.

Vanessa: I mostly enjoyed writing, but I really enjoyed listening to others. I felt nervous about sharing. I want to steal lines from others.

Kelly: I think it's so nice that everyone's mind is going everywhere.

Allison: I like freewriting--I feel more focused and my head feels clear. I also think it builds community and sharing.

Marla: 20 minutes is a long time to write. Do I even have enough to say?

Just a total mess of a freewrite...for the first day of SI.

I've been thinking a lot about my classroom recently. I feel like there's a shift happening. Back to freewriting. I feel a little scattered, and a little unorganized. I feel unprepared, or is that just nervous. I have all of this knowledge, but am I ready to share it, to help others guide themselves to deeper research and meaning in their own work.

It makes me think of Senior Projects. (I think everything makes me think of Sr. Projects.) But on the night of the Senior Showcase, I think the kids must be feeling this nervousness that I feel. This knowledge of what's about to come, yet knowing there's the unexpected about to come as well. The unpredictability is what is scary and exciting all at the same time.

I'm not freewriting very well at all today. I feel preoccupied. It's the first day of SI in many locations and my twitter feed is going crazy. I'm going to have to turn off the tweetdeck so it doesn't pop up on my screen every 10 seconds. Thomas showed me how to do that the other day, but, of course, I totally forgot how. And I don't want to take the time right now to figure it out.

I'm sharing with my small writing group a piece on the traveling journal. I'm about to conduct research on it for the TEacher Inquiry Institute. I think EVERY teacher should go through the TII. It would be kind of neat if it were a class that all graduate students had to take, but, sometimes graduate students don't have to have teaching experience. I wonder if programs would be more authentic, more relevant, if they stuck to the prerequ that teaching experience is required, because that changes the whole context of research.

I've got butterflies in my stomach. Butterflies I say, but they are beautiful Monarchs. We are writing for a long time this morning. I'm glad for this. What if I don't have a "timed" writing in my classroom next year? Not starting out with the 7 minutes. Not having the clock running. Will that change the outcome of the freewriting?