Dear Drew, a Plea From a Cat!

Dear Drew,

I heard from my owner that your roommate Quinn is moving out in April. I bet you are worried about being lonely. Well, I have a solution for you.

First, I heard you are a nice guy! My owner said you used to be on her Cross Country team when you were in high school. I love to run! Usually, I am chasing something or being chased, but I am fast.

Also, the neighborhood you live in may have mice. Guess what? Everyday in the summer, I leave decapitated mice at my owner's door. Sometimes, they still have their head. Depends on my mood.

Are you dating anyone? You may not know this, but I can charm the ladies. Plan on me being your wingman.

Finally, the kids that live with me said you used to babysit them. I am SO much easier to take care of compared to them. Dump some food, clean my bathroom, give me a bit of love and I am set. Those kids want to be entertained with games or movies or books. I am happy playing with a hair tie or even your favorite ski sock (you may never see it again--minor detail).

I hope you consider taking me when my family moves to Panama for two years. Panama isn't the place for me. I am a mountain cat; I need to avoid high humidity and city life.

Drew, if you take me in, it will be a win-win situation!

Your new best friend,

Dash

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes.

Day 6 of the writing challenge has allowed me to walk in my reluctant writer's shoes for the day. I think back to all of those student's who couldn't think of what to write. I would prompt them with questions or mentor texts or tell them straight out a topic to write about. Nothing could get them to write.

 

I have a list of topics that I have thought about for this challenge--nothing spoke to me today.

• traveling
• Moab
• life in a large family
• living in the city with parents who grew up on farms
• moving to Panama
• volunteering
• racing up Pike's Peak
• parenthood
• teaching
• students--success stories and not so successful stories

We expect students to write when it is dictated in our schedule. State tests expect students to write about topics that may have no meaning to them.


Writing instruction has been a personal professional goal for years. After every school year, I reflect in what went well that school year and how I could improve for the next. Writing usually topped the list.


I slowly made changes to my instruction: stopped using prompts, followed the writing workshop format, mentor texts to guide instruction to name a few.
Now, I am comfortable with teaching writing. I model my writing for students on the ELMO or chart paper. I even joined this challenge to stretch myself further. As a teacher, I thank Katie Wood Ray, Nancie Atwell, Georgia Heard, Ted DeMille, Lucy Caulkins, and Kathy King-Dickman (an educational consultant from Colorado who has worked with my school for 7 years--google her; she is amazing!).


When working with a reluctant writer, I have many tools, but now I have compassion and understanding!