If you are a dreamer, come in
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by the fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!
by Shel Silverstein
The Writing Project experience is one I look forward to every year. This institute is always a huge blessing to me an an educator. A coming home after a school year filled with plans, goals, and commitments. For me, the Central Texas Writing Project is:
And ending and a beginning
A finish and a start
An accomplishment and a goal
It’s graphite and eraser
It’s student and teacher
It’s sense of urgency and laid back
It’s the reason and the outcome
The hope and the promise
The day before our last day together, we went as a group to watch the documentary about Mr. Roger’s career and the mark he left on the children’s programming industry. We were reminded of the icon’s passions for communication, reverence for children, inclusivity, and kindness. The Mr. Rogers movie ended the way the writing project began: with an invitation.
An invitation to notice
An invitation to wonder
An invitation to question
And what we are now extending you you...An invitation to write.
Teacher writers,
- Angel
- Veronica
- Julie
- Brittany
- Megan
- Zach
at the beginning of this institute, you weren’t comfortable with the title, “writer,” but you have engaged in a writing battle. You have been vulnerable, exposed, and validated for the ideas you have and how you will implement them in your classrooms. You will now (as Mem Fox says) have empathy for the comrades in your classrooms who must learn to fight this writing battle for themselves. May your summer be filled with rest and relaxation, with time to reflect on what you want to cling to tightly and practices you are willing to let go.
I am so proud to have been with you on this journey and I look forward to hearing stories of how you are changing the world.
