This document discusses the importance of teachers being writers themselves in order to effectively teach writing. It emphasizes showing students the writing process, sharing struggles with writing, and creating a classroom community where students feel comfortable taking risks with their writing. The key messages are that teachers must make their own writing visible to students, develop reflective young writers, and help students find meaning and preserve moments from their daily lives in their writing.

1. Stacey Shubitz
www.staceyshubitz.com
http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com
@raisealithuman

7. In order to be effective teachers of writing,
teachers must be Writers themselves.

8. Image Source: http://bit.ly/141xiPP

9. Initial Research Question
How does the use of mentor
texts lift the level of writing in
my elementary school
classroom?”
Sub-Questions (that
evolved)
How can I make my students
reflective writers?
How do I help my students to
make meaning out of their
own lives?
How do I get my students to
write about the small
moments of their lives on an
everyday basis (recognizing
their daily lives‟ are worth
preserving)?

10. If I wanted my students
to live like writers, then
they would need to see
my writing, hear my
thinking about writing,
and understand my
struggles as a writer.
Image Source: http://bit.ly/T3xDN2

11. “When an author‟s writing moves are made
visible, young writers can study them to help
improve their own writing craft”.

12. It may seem intimidating to think of yourself
as a “Writer,” but I say that each one of us
can be a writer (small w)—someone who
puts words onto the page for a variety of
purposes. Students will notice. They‟ll
appreciate the fact that you‟re taking the
same risk they are taking.

13. I write in an insufficient
attempt to live forever.
I write to find peace when
the world is falling apart.
I write to create order.
I write to have the last
word.
I write to create a dialogue.
I write for fun.

14. Image Source: http://bit.ly/17KmDhx

15. 1. Write first thing in the morning if you can.
2. If you choose to do it another time of day,
prioritize it.
3. Think “same time, same place.”
4. Some people find it useful to “attach” their writing
to another daily activity to strengthen the habit.
5. Be flexible, no matter what.
6. Avoid judging your writing.
7. Always reflect on the benefits of writing at the end
of the session.
8. Keep an “excuse book” close at hand.
9. Find a buddy or a community to do it with.
10.Be realistic in your expectations.

17. a category for a story that portrays a "cut-
out" sequence of events in a character's life.
It may or may not contain any real plot, and
often has no exposition, action, conflict, or
denouement, with an open ending. It usually
tries to depict the every-day life of ordinary
people.
(Retrieved on 2/18/08 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slice_of_life_story)

20. “I‟m an administrator who oversees district
curriculum. … Just as a teacher shouldn‟t
expect students to do something they‟ve
never done, I believe administrators should
„live‟ what their teachers are asked to do
whenever possible.”
BLOG URL: http://ccahilldotcom.wordpress.com

21. “… I share my writing process with my kids
and I tell them when I‟m having a hard time
with something. We really are in it together.”
Blog URL: http://www.raisingreadersandwriters.com

22. “…After joining this community, reading
some amazing books, and writing on my
blog, my teaching and ideas of being a
writer changed. Every child is a Writer.
Every child can Write. I realized if I could get
past my fear, past my feelings of needing to
be someone special to be a Writer, then I
could show them how they too are Writers.”
Blog URL: http://www.klingercafe.com

23. “Being a writer has helped me show my
students what words can do: how they can
connect people, how they can deepen
understanding, how they can speak the
truths we hold deep inside us…”
Blog URL: http://ihabloespanglish.blogspot.com

24. Find out how other educators have been
impacted by becoming a Writer at
http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/20
13/06/04/writerwithabigw/#comments.

25. “Write about what makes you different.”

26. “If the writing is honest it cannot be
separated from the man who wrote it.”

27. “Words give us voice to tell our truth.”

29. es·sen·tial
adjective i-ˈsen(t)-shəl
a : of the utmost importance : basic,
indispensable, necessary
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

30. “You have to be able to promise your
students that if they write, nothing bad will
happen to them.”

31. Build a classroom community of writers.
Show students you believe being a Writer
matters… because it does.