February 18

Today in history, Mark Twain published Huckleberry Finn in the United States, to the future chagrin and delight of many a student. Hooray! Twain wrote largely inspired by his own colorful upbringing. This brings me to an interesting concept I hope to share with my students. It certainly is not my wisdom, but a well-known concept- "Write from what you know".
   So many of my students struggle to enjoy writing. If I can convey one thing it is that writing can and SHOULD be somewhat enjoyable. I know this is not very English-teacherly of me, but toss the rules out and just write. Write your thoughts, write random words, write down your lists of to-do's- groceries, chores, life goals- who cares?! Just write until you are comfortable with how easy it is and then write something real and true. Write thank you's to people who have made a difference in your life and then send them. Write emails if you can't stomach the thought of snail mail. It is good for you to use a pen and write. Then read what you wrote and read it to someone else and enjoy it. Stop editing yourself while you write. Do that after. Write NOW! Have some fun with it.

See you all back in

class!