Motivational Creative Writing

One of my favourite things in the world is youtube. I believe learners respond far better to visual stimulation. I also think learners of our era have a far higher expectation for teachers to continuously use this level of resourcing. To me this is rather ironic, as I remember when I was a school, film, as a resource was 'few and far between' - it wasn't an expectation, and to be honest we got excited if we received a colour picture! And I'm not that old - I represent generation X!

Back to the point of this entry. I have one particular class of learners who, let's put it politely, simply hate anything to do with writing, English or simply just school work!!!! This makes it very difficult for them to pass senior grades, as a huge part of our courses involve writing... my life is not easy. So today, eleven learners arrived. I thought, great, I'll get eleven pieces of work handed in - if I hold my breath! I turned on my smart board and went to youtube. I like to start every lesson with a fun starter or brain teaser, to get their attention. I googled Billy T James, who for those who don't know was one of the most famous comedian's New Zealand has ever had. My learners had no idea who he was, but they laughed - they were immediately able to understand and relate to the cultural aspect of the clip! Interest was grabbed immediately and learners wanted to know more... so we watched three random clips (which I'd seen before!), had a discussion about they Billy T James, who he was, what he represented and how he became famous... Then I gave the instructions - learners will write a story, imagining Billy T James in modern society! Create an event or situation, where Billy T James has been placed in modern society (but missed the evolution to get here). Well, the learners were on fire. They thought that was great. I left them with a reliever and went to do my own thing, and the most incredible thing happened. The reliever wrote a note saying how great these kids are - I know this - but a reliever has NEVER said that before!!!

So check out the clip below, use youtube for all it's worth, never under estimate the value of a simple starter... feed the learners expectations, engage them in their world....

Find a story... Map a story... Create a story...

This is a great site, probably best aimed at intermediate learners, when formatting and writing stories. Unfortunately in New Zealand creative writing is often overlooked at an intermediate level, due to curriculum pressures (although I'm not speaking on behalf of the school I'm currently working in!!), and then learners are expected to complete NCEA Creative Writing tasks... which in turn becomes very daunting.

This website really supports learners who are not interested in writing, gives them another aspect of motivation and development... I would highly recommend it as a teaching tool. It takes them through planning and implementing a story - which in turn allows learners to give their work meaning.

Blogging....

Blogs. They are a wave of the future... or maybe more so, now... until the next wave of evolution from Web 3.0. Blogs create a facility for the infamous to be the famous... the unknown and quiet to be known and often loud... Blogs give those who are not confident in first person, a safe avenue to let their opinions fly out into the world wide web - which is now so overwhelming!!!

I love blogs. I have a personal blog, for my children... I want them to have something to reflect back to... I know I will not be able to remember every little thing they do... I want them to know I cared about their growth and development into the people they are yet to be. But, you must notice, even with this blog, I do not allow them to take over my life. I have heard horror stories of people who are allowing blogs to take over their lives... nervous breakdowns occurring and realistically stopping their realistic life, for their second life. I will not do this. This is why I am not too regular with my contributions.

However, as a Teaching tool blogs are fantastic. It doesn't matter what subject area you are referring to or what your doing.. they could be used in nearly any avenue... crikey, soon we may not use exercise books, just blogs...but I don't now how much I'd like that! As an English teacher, I feel learners don't write enough anymore... they don't express their opinions enough, as especially with our education system - NCEA - they are constantly stressed and trying to meet the course requirements. Blogs give an avenue of an out... as well as a learning opportunity.

All my learners are required to have blogs. I started this year, and my HOF has adopted this policy - we are trying to implement this across the school. It is not always an easy thing to do. Our goal is to get learners writing. Obviously. I am looking forward to looking at each learners evolution over the course of the year, and also it will be interesting to see how different writing styles change on their blog, as we move through different Achievement Standards.

Learners must write on their blogs a minimum of three times a week. This becomes their primary home learning. Learners are given options of what they can write about - motivational ideas on a daily basis...

• Today we watched a web 2.0 safety clip on YouTube today, and they were sent home to write a review of the clip onto their blogs.


• Learners are allowed to create stories, let their minds run free.


• Learners can complete their course work as home learning and simply publish what they have done in class.


• Learners can share Web2.0 information, ideas, books reviews - basically anything (but if they are sharing something like a video clip - they must write a paragraph review).


• Learners can write about their own thoughts and ideas - but in a safe manner

Blogging brings in opportunities to discuss and implement ideas regarding personal safety on line. I am currently working on gathering material to create an on-going unit regarding safety on line with Web2.0. I relate this to any interaction on line, not just school work.. and find YouTube to be one of my best friends! I will be posting more of my ideas regarding this online as this starts to evolve. I strongly believe it is something that educationalists and parents do not always realise the importance of and it can be over-looked at times.

New Zealand Book Council

I realise that many people may already be aware of this site, but it is worth a mention. I have a few learners in my classes who regularly enter competitions, and a couple more who should enter regularly. This is simply a New Zealand site to monitor, in order to allow/encourage our learners to enter, grow confidence, and grow passions. I am posting it on my wiki for my learners to follow, as well as supporting and encouraging those who show interest to enter what ever they deem relevant.

This site has been established to encourage and foster the love of reading, which in turn also encourages the love of writing. Our New Zealand writers are growing in confidence, and I feel it is very important to encourage the next generations to do realise they are more than capable. I very strongly feel that as an educationalist, it is not only our job to teach skills, it is also to teach learners how to teach themselves - giving them skills to carry forth into adult life, allowing learners to constantly evolve. The experience learners can get from entering such competitions such as those from the book council would be invaluable - failure is not an option - success can be gained simply from a submission.