I Know What You Did Last Summer....(a non-horror experience)

When I think of summer, I think of time off especially after an arduous year of teaching, learning, reflecting, grading, writing (lesson plans), reading, and all things academic.  So it was to my surprise that I signed up for the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI).

I bet your gut reaction was "Whaaat!!  Summer writing, no thanks!  MAYBE summer reading, anything but writing!"

No worries, I felt the same way.  People will do anything to avoid writing...like a horror movie it scares, frightens, worries, terrorizes and perhaps makes us sweat (a little).  I get it.  I get it.  I. Get. It!  I used to feel that way too.

Then, something changed.  A shift if you will.  Let me tell you what I did last summer.

It started with me, reluctantly (to be honest), applying and getting accepted to attend the 2018 Invitational Summer Institute (ISI) held at UC Riverside from mid-June to early July 2018.  Twelve days total.  I was unsure if I wanted to spend two weeks of my summer like this but I decided that my writing instruction needed some assistance and a fellow colleague REALLY encouraged me to attend (if you are reading this, you know who YOU are!).

Participating in ISI changed how I viewed writing and how I could make writing more meaningful for students.  I also realized that the ISI was NOT  a writing workshop with hand-outs and a mountain of strategies that you probably will never use anyway.  Don't get me wrong...there were actual hand-outs and strategies that were shared but the main takeaway for me was that writing takes many forms and accomplished writers NEED accomplished writer teachers with an emphasis on the teacher being a writer themselves and not just teachers of writing.

What does this mean exactly?  Well, by experiencing each day during the ISI as a writing "student," I realized that the reasons to write were crucial for engagement and to stimulate creativity.  Through thoughtful and carefully-planned activities, we became poets, storytellers, reporters, authors, rappers, lyrical composers, researchers, and audience members to an array of creative writing pieces.  We clapped, cheered, and encouraged each other.  We became a community of..........writers.

Writers.

Therefore, my "story" for this year's Spotlight Blog will be about writing.  I would like to share with you how the ISI has impacted my classroom practice.  I have implemented some ISI writing experiences with my current class and I am excited to share the results with you in future blogs so please return!

Want more info?  Click here:

http://iawp.ucr.edu/

Would you care for a "preview" - like a movie trailer showing some of the fabulous activities we participated in during the ISI?  Well, there is an annual writing conference coming up on Nov. 3rd at UCR.  There is a fee.  If your site has PD funding, this would be a great way to use it.  I hope you can join us!

Happy Writing!
Gus Macuil