the writer within us all
I began my teaching career in the fine arts. I had always had a love for the written word and when I resumed teaching after a timeout to raise my children, I changed gears and began teaching language arts. I was disappointed to find my 8th grade students held a lack of love for reading, limited vocabularies and a reluctance to pick up a pencil and put their thoughts down on paper.
I tried different programs and was frustrated much of the time. I eventually had some success in reading skills when I began to explore my love of reading and how I came to that love.
In the spring of 2009, I heard about a writing program for teachers through NWP at UCA, a college not too far from my town. It was called the Great Bear Writing Project. I was impressed with their site and applied immediately. When I first attended class, I was a little apprehensive and impressed and elated and in love. The other teachers were as hungry for help as I was. Our instructors were guides through this wonderfully new and yet familiar ground. What I did not expect to experience was what my students experience every day.
The terror of being put on the spot to write off the top of my head, the nervousness to share my thoughts with my peers - but OMG! It was wonderful. I could not stop writing. I couldn't wait to get back into the classroom and make them feel what I was feeling. My particular "skills" seemed to alight in poetry and while I still hear groans when I begin my poetry unit, I always end up having my 8th graders sad that we are finished. The great thing is that they aren't really finished. I am often asked to read a poem they wrote while in Science or one that came to them at home or on break. It makes me know I found something I can never repay and want other teachers to experience, too.
I think the loss of the NWP will be shooting this wonderfully fleet horse before she has had a chance to really run the race. She's still a colt finding her legs. Let's not cut them out from under her. Please save the NWP. It's vital to our children's literary health and welfare. A love for the written word whether it is reading others or writing your own is a blessing we cannot afford to ignore.
Pamela Gamble Bagby
Language Arts and Yearbook
from my beloved Great Bear Project
Conway, Arkansas
I tried different programs and was frustrated much of the time. I eventually had some success in reading skills when I began to explore my love of reading and how I came to that love.
In the spring of 2009, I heard about a writing program for teachers through NWP at UCA, a college not too far from my town. It was called the Great Bear Writing Project. I was impressed with their site and applied immediately. When I first attended class, I was a little apprehensive and impressed and elated and in love. The other teachers were as hungry for help as I was. Our instructors were guides through this wonderfully new and yet familiar ground. What I did not expect to experience was what my students experience every day.
The terror of being put on the spot to write off the top of my head, the nervousness to share my thoughts with my peers - but OMG! It was wonderful. I could not stop writing. I couldn't wait to get back into the classroom and make them feel what I was feeling. My particular "skills" seemed to alight in poetry and while I still hear groans when I begin my poetry unit, I always end up having my 8th graders sad that we are finished. The great thing is that they aren't really finished. I am often asked to read a poem they wrote while in Science or one that came to them at home or on break. It makes me know I found something I can never repay and want other teachers to experience, too.
I think the loss of the NWP will be shooting this wonderfully fleet horse before she has had a chance to really run the race. She's still a colt finding her legs. Let's not cut them out from under her. Please save the NWP. It's vital to our children's literary health and welfare. A love for the written word whether it is reading others or writing your own is a blessing we cannot afford to ignore.
Pamela Gamble Bagby
Language Arts and Yearbook
from my beloved Great Bear Project
Conway, Arkansas
